Abstract
Abstract For the construction of their skeleton, several species of Demospongiae utilise foreign material such as sand grains, sponge spicules, diatom oozes and other particles. Even though selection mechanisms were widely debated, no investigation comparing en vironmental sedimentation and particle incorporation had been carried out. The aim of this work is to compare the environmental sedimentation, studied by traps, with the particles found inside the body of the common demosponge, Chondrosia reniformis, collect ed along a depth transect on the vertical rocky cliff of the Portofino Promontory (Ligurian Sea, Italy). The mineralogical analysis eviden ces an active choice regarding the quality of the incorporated matter, with a strong affinity for siliceous particles. The size of the particles incorporated by the sponges at different depths is similar to that of the fine inorganic fraction in the water column. This phenomenon involves two mechanisms: (1) a physical uptake related to the mucous surface of ...
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