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Animal Biology

'Stylocordyla chupachups', a new species of sponge

A team of Catalan scientists discovered a new species of sponge in the depths of Antarctica and because of it similarities with the famous Chupa Chups lollypop gave it the scientific name of 'Stylocordyla chupachups'.

ANNI MONREAL | SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2010

The similarity of the new species to the famous
candy gave birth to its name

Ten years after the discovery, Maria Jesús Uriz, Josep Maria Gili, Covadonga Orejas and Alicia Pérez-Porro, scientists at the Marine Science Institute (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona and the Center of Advanced Studies (CEAB-CSIC) in Blanes, a town north of the Catalan capital, have just published in the journal Polar Biology the article Existen las distribuciones bipolares en esponjas marinas? Stylocordyla chupachups en el mar de Weddell, previamente registrada como Stylocordyla borealis (Does there exist bipolar distributions in marine sponges? Stylocordyla chupachups in the Weddell Sea, previously recorded as Stylocordyla borealis). In this publication, the scientists confirmed the discovery of this new species of sponge in the seas of the south pole. But what is most curious is not the discovery itself, but the fact that researchers adopted the name of a famous Catalan candy for the scientific name of the new creature.

A tribute to the scientists’ children

"We gave it the name of the candy as a tribute to our young children who suffer the most from our long absences when we embark on expeditions for months to go as far away as the Antarctic oceans," said Gili. "It is a very sweet and endearing way to thank them for their sacrifice and tolerance to the challenges and demands of our profession. Perhaps with a Chupa Chup in their hands when we are on expedition they may understand that we always remember them.”

Gili is very sincere when justifying the name of a new species of sponge that the group collected for the first time in 2000 during its second expedition to Antarctic. "At first we thought it was just an example of the common species in Antarctic waters, the Stylocordila borealis. But then we realized that it was a species unknown to science and much more common than we thought," said the researcher of the Department of Marine Biology and Oceanography of the ICM-CSIC.

The scientists collected and analyzed a sponge that measured between 0.7 and 1 cm when drawn up, with a slightly curved stem, joined with the substrate by a root system of a dark beige color. "The resemblance to the candy and the fact that the Germans and English called it a lollypop," along with the memory of their children, led to the naming of the new species after the popular brand of candy, he said.

Many species are endemic to Antarctic

The sponge is found between 100 and 500 meters deep and
in carpets hundreds of meters long.

"The discovery on board the ship was not very exciting," said Gili. "We were confused until once back in the laboratory of the ICM, in Barcelona, we found that it was something new. So, yes, we are very excited because it corroborated a hypothesis that we maintained for some time: that many Antarctic species are endemic."

Sponges are one of the dominant invertebrate groups in the seas of Antarctica. They represent approximately 75% of the biomass of benthic communities (organisms living on substrates on the sea floor), especially between 100 and 200 meters deep. Along with their omnipresence, Antarctic sponges are characterized by their diversity: so far 350 different species have been found, including the recent addition of the Stylocordyla chupachups. "It is found in many parts of the Weddell Sea, between 100 and 500 meters deep, and in some areas forms carpets a hundred meters long," said Gili.

30 million years of isolation

In particular, the Chupa Chups sponge rejects the hard bottoms of the continental shelf of the Weddell Sea and instead prefers the horizontal or inclined surfaces. The densest populations are found between 150 and 300 meters deep and every time an ice block detaches from an iceberg (which destroys the seabed) it is the first species to repopulate the ecosystem. Micronutrients stored in ice plunge into the sea and life grows again. For this reason, we can conclude that the presence of the Chupa Chups sponges indicates that there has been a recent colonization.

The finding has not only served to show that the Antarctic is still uncharted territory, which "until specialists study it in depth, they do not realize that there are very peculiar species,” but especially to warn that “the most common species in Antarctic waters are unique to this continent,” said Gili. So unique are these sponges that they appear to have been isolated for 30 million years.

The discovery of the Chupa Chups sponge helps to better understand the planet, without any particular benefit derived for humans. "Most marine species provide economic benefits," said Gili. "This is a vision that has harmed marine biodiversity and is one of the greatest mistakes man has made regards to the diversity of the planet."

The discovery casts doubt on bipolarity

The discovery of this new species has called into question one of the main beliefs in the field of marine biodiversity: bipolarity, which says that a given species inhabits both poles of the planet. Contrary to this pattern, the Stylocordyla chupachups, like many of the species in the Antarctic, is endemic to this continent, i.e., it is only found in this area. This fact is related to the origin of Antarctica (the ancient continent of Gondwana), a region that is not linked to the continents that today are in the seas of the northern hemisphere.
Efficient and adaptable organisms
Phylum Porifera, or sponges, are a group of invertebrates known since ancient times. Even so, they arouse little interest in the scientific community: there are only about 200 experts worldwide dedicated to their study, according to Gili. Indeed, his group counts on one of the leading voices in this scientific field, María Jesús Uriz. Underwater robots have shown that below 50 meters deep, sponges dominate the ecosystem. The simplicity of these organisms makes them highly efficient and easily adaptable to any environment. Their diet consists of particles that precipitate to the bottom from the sea surface.

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