Rhabdastrella globostellata explained

Rhabdastrella globostellata, also known as the yellow pot sponge, is a marine sponge of the order Astrophorida. It is native to many regions of the Indian Ocean including the shores of Madagascar, the Seychelles, and Australia^[1] as well as the Malayan Peninsula and Singapore.^[2] It was first described by Henry J. Carter as Stelleta globostellata in 1883, named after the globostellate shape of its spicules (Latin globus meaning "sphere" and stellātus meaning "star-shaped").

R. globostellata has been shown to produce a wide variety of isomalabaricanes, a type of triterpene molecules with notable cytotoxic activity towards certain cancer cell lines.^{[3] [4]}

Further reading

• Book: A guide to sponges of Singapore. Swee Cheng Lim. Nicole de Voogd. Koh Siang Tan. 2008. Singapore Science Centre. Singapore. 978-981-08-1880-7.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rhabdastrella globostellata. van Soest, R. 2010-06-04. World Register of Marine Species.
2. Web site: Yellow pot sponge Rhabdastrella globostellata. Tan R. 2010-06-04. wildsingapore.com.
3. Tasdemir D, Mangalindan GC, Concepción GP, Verbitski SM, Rabindran S, Miranda M, Greenstein M, Hooper JN, Harper MK, Ireland CM . February 2002. Bioactive isomalabaricane triterpenes from the marine sponge Rhabdastrella globostellata. Journal of Natural Products. 65. 2. 210–214. 10.1021/np0104020. 11858759.
4. Fouad M, Edrada RA, Ebel R, Wray V, Müller WE, Lin WH, Proksch P . February 2006. Cytotoxic isomalabaricane triterpenes from the marine sponge Rhabdastrella globostellata. Journal of Natural Products. 69. 2. 211–218. 10.1021/np050346t. 16499318.