Latrunculia biformis explained

Latrunculia biformis, the mud-clump sponge, is a widespread deep sea demosponge from the southern hemisphere.

Description

This tough and firm sponge is chocolate brown or olive green in colour and grows up to 90mm in length and 80mm in width.^{[1] [2]} They are semi-spherical or ovoid in shape, with the surface covered in conical, volcano-shaped oscules and flattened disk-like projections.

Spicules

• Megascleres: Anisostyles that are smooth and straight or curved. The apical extremity is needle-like.^[3]
• Microscleres: Aciculodiscorhabds are very similar to anisodiscorhabds, only differing in having a well developed spined apical projection.

Distribution and habitat

This species is widely distributed across the southern hemisphere. It is a deep sea sponge and has been found at a depth of NaNm (-2,147,483,648feet). It is known from the coasts of southwest Africa, Río de la Plata in South America, and the Antarctic and Subantarctic regions.

Biologically important compounds

As is the case with the majority of the species in its genus, the mud-clump sponge contains chemical compounds which are of medical interest. These include several discorhabdins with anti-cancer properties. Additionally, an extracted tridiscorhabdin has been shown to exhibit highly cytotoxic activity against human colon cancer cells.^[4] Extracted lipids have also been shown to have strong antioxidative properties.^[5]

References

1. Book: Atkinson. Lara J. Field guide to the offshore marine invertebrates of South Africa. Sink. Kerry J. 2018. South African Environmental Observation Network. 978-1-86868-098-6. Pretoria. 1037159161.
2. Li. Peifer. Janussen. Tasdemir. 2019-07-25. New Discorhabdin Alkaloids from the Antarctic Deep-Sea Sponge Latrunculia biformis. Marine Drugs. en. 17. 8. 439. 10.3390/md17080439. 1660-3397. 6722921. 31349703. free.
3. Campos. Maurício. Mothes. Beatriz. Veitenheimer Mendes. Inga L.. 2007. Antarctic sponges (Porifera, Demospongiae) of the South Shetland Islands and vicinity: part II. Poecilosclerida. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia. 24. 3. 742–770. 10.1590/S0101-81752007000300027. 0101-8175. free.
4. Li. Fengjie. Pandey. Pankaj. Janussen. Dorte. Chittiboyina. Amar G.. Ferreira. Daneel. Tasdemir. Deniz. 2020-03-27. Tridiscorhabdin and Didiscorhabdin, the First Discorhabdin Oligomers Linked with a Direct C–N Bridge from the Sponge Latrunculia biformis Collected from the Deep Sea in Antarctica. Journal of Natural Products. en. 83. 3. 706–713. 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00023. 32105471. 211556617. 0163-3864.
5. Botić. Tanja. Cör. Darija. Anesi. Andrea. Guella. Graziano. Sepčić. Kristina. Janussen. Dorte. Kersken. Daniel. Knez. Željko. 2015. Fatty acid composition and antioxidant activity of Antarctic marine sponges of the genus Latrunculia. Polar Biology. en. 38. 10. 1605–1612. 10.1007/s00300-015-1722-z. 2359453. 0722-4060.