Meeting Abstract 116.8  Monday, Jan. 7  The freshwater sponge, Ephydatia muelleri, as a model to study the evolution of developmental regulatory programs HILL, A.*; RIVERA, A.; WINTERS, I.; RUED, A.; DING, S.; POSFAI, D.; GENTILE, L.; WEBB, E.; TROK, W.; Univ. of Richmond, Richmond, VA; Univ. of the Pacific, Stockton, CA; Stanford Univ. School of Medicine, Stanford, […]

Meeting Abstract 116.10  Monday, Jan. 7  Testing passive flow and oxygen consumption in three temperate demosponges LUDEMAN, DA*; REIDENBACH, MA; LEYS, SP; University of Alberta; University of Virginia; University of Alberta sleys@ualberta.ca Sponges are suspension feeders that process up to 900x their body volume in water daily, and extract bacteria with up to 98% efficiency. Because of […]

Meeting Abstract 116.2  Monday, Jan. 7  Synergistic Effects of Crude Oil and Corexit Dispersant on a Sponge Holobiont System LOPEZ, JV*; CUVELIER, M; GILBERT, JA; LARSEN, P; WILLOUGHBY, D; WU, Y; BLACKWELDER, P; MCCARTHY, PJ; SMITH, E; VEGA THURBER, R; Ocean Center -Nova Southeastern University; Florida International University; University of Chicago; Argonne National Laboratory; Ocean Ridge Biosciences; […]

Meeting Abstract 116.6  Monday, Jan. 7  Sponge recovery after extreme mortality events: Taxonomic and morphological patterns in regeneration vs. recruitment WULFF, J/L; Florida State University wulff@bio.fsu.edu Sponge mortality associated with a dense phytoplankton bloom on the southern portions of the Belize Barrier Reef in late summer 2011 was extreme, with 70% of the sponge biomass abruptly lost. […]

Meeting Abstract 116.3  Monday, Jan. 7  Sponge Hybridomas: Applications and Implications POMPONI, S.A.*; JEVITT, A; PATEL, J; Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce; Florida State University, Tallahassee; Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce spomponi@hboi.fau.edu Many sponge-derived natural products with human health applications have been discovered over the past three decades. In vitro production has been proposed as one biological […]

Meeting Abstract 116.7  Monday, Jan. 7  New insights into the position of the metazoan root from multi-criterion outgroup selection and microRNAs SPERLING, EA*; FEUDA, R; ROTA-STABELLI, O; ROBINSON, J; PETERSON, KJ; PISANI, D; Harvard University; NUI-Maynooth; Fondazione Edmund Mach; Dartmouth College; Dartmouth College; NUI-Maynooth sperling@fas.harvard.edu There are several phylogenetic hypotheses relating the different sponge classes, but all […]

Meeting Abstract 116.9  Monday, Jan. 7  Comparative Time-Lapse Studies of Coughing Calcareous Sponges BOND, C; Greensboro College, North Carolina bondc@greensboro.edu Despite their lack of muscles and neurons, sponges are capable of propagated contractile events, known as contractile waves. These contractions have been studied mostly in demosponges with the typical leuconoid canal design. This present study presents novel […]

Meeting Abstract 116.1  Monday, Jan. 7  Can greater relative complexity in skeletal structure explain why hexactinellid molecular-based phylogenies correspond better to traditional systematics, as compared to other sponge groups? COLLINS, A.G.*; DOHRMANN, M.; National Systematics Lab; Smithsonian collinsa@si.edu Continuous efforts over the past two decades let us improve the systematics of sponges through the simultaneous consideration of […]

Meeting Abstract 116.5  Monday, Jan. 7  A mitochondrial sponge gene unique among animals: the evolution of the Tat pathway in Oscarella PETT, W*; LAVROV, D; Iowa State University; Iowa State University willpett@iastate.edu The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway is a protein transport system that serves in moving folded proteins across energy-transducing membranes, and is widespread in all domains […]

Meeting Abstract 115.1  Monday, Jan. 7  Torques in running and feet in walking – how deviations from point mass models give insight into bipedal locomotion HUBEL, T.Y.*; USHERWOOD, J.R.; Royal Veterinary College; Royal Veterinary College thubel@rvc.ac.uk Reductionist point mass models are useful in understanding the underlying mechanical principles of walking and running. However, they are inevitably incomplete […]