BOND, C; Greensboro College, North Carolina: Comparative Time-Lapse Studies of Two Different Sponge Designs

Most time-lapse microscopy studies on sponges have been done on those with leuconoid canal architecture (seen in a majority of sponges). This present study has initiated time-lapse examinations of live asconoid sponges. It was hoped that recording asconoid sponges, with their simpler architecture, would provide valuable insight into motile phenomena seen in more complex sponges. Time-lapse videos of intact asconoid sponges (Leucosolenia sp.) show motile behaviors, such as locomotion and contractile waves, that are similar (in appearance and speed) to those seen in leuconoid sponges (e.g.: Aplysilla longispina). In asconoids, contractile waves propagated at speeds of 30- 50 �m/minute, and they involved systemic constriction then dilation of the slender canal-body tubes. Apparent locomotion of the asconoid tubes was an outward movement away from the central conglomeration, this movement was always accompanied by spicule rearrangements. Time-lapse videos of the margins of the leuconoid sponges confirmed earlier reports of several features: such as crawling amoeboid cells at the leading edge, and contractile waves in both canals and in cortical tissues. Further comparisons between the two sponge designs will be discussed.