Chondrocladia
Chondrocladia, the ping pong ball sponges, is a genus of carnivorous tree sponges of the family Cladorhizidae. Neocladia was long considered a junior synonym, but has recently become accepted as a distinct genus.
Thirty-three named species are placed in this genus at present, but at least two additional undescribed ones are known to exist, while some of the described ones are known only from a few specimens or just a single one, and their validity and/or placement in Chondrocladia is doubtful. Chondrocladia sponges are stipitate, with a stalk frequently anchored in the substrate by rhizoids and an egg-shaped body, sometimes with branches that end in inflatable spheres.
Fossils assignable to this genus are known since the Pleistocene, less than two million years ago. However, given its deep sea habitat, Chondrocladia may well have been around for much longer - it existed perhaps as early as the Mesozoic Era, as characteristic spicules, almost identical to those of some living Chondrocladia, are known from Early Jurassic rocks almost two hundred million years old.
Carnivory
These sponges gained media attention when a new species, a gourd-shaped carnivorous sponge, was featured in reports of finds off the coast of Antarctica. The new Chondrocladia was one of seventy-six sponge species identified in the seas off Antarctica by the Antarctic Benthic Deep-Sea Biodiversity Project between 2002 and 2005, conducted aboard the German research vessel Polarstern.Carnivorous sponges, which use hooked spicules to capture small crustaceans, have been known only since 1995, when Asbestopluma hypogea, another genus of the family Cladorhizidae, was identified in Mediterranean sea caves offshore La Ciotat by Jean Vacelet and Nicole Boury-Esnault. Carnivory has since turned out to be common and typical for this sponge family. Unlike their relatives, Chondrocladia still possesses the water flow system and choanocytes typical of sponges, albeit highly modified to inflate balloon-like structures that are used for capturing prey.
Species
The known species of Chondrocladia are:Chondrocladia albatrossi Tendal, 1973Chondrocladia amphactis Chondrocladia antarctica Hentschel, 1914Chondrocladia arenifera Brøndsted, 1929Chondrocladia asigmata Lévi, 1964Chondrocladia burtoni Tendal, 1973Chondrocladia clavata Ridley & Dendy, 1886Chondrocladia concrescens Chondrocladia crinita Ridley & Dendy, 1886Chondrocladia dichotoma Lévi, 1964Chondrocladia fatimae Boury-Esnault & Van Beveren, 1982Chondrocladia gigantea Chondrocladia gracilis Lévi, 1964Chondrocladia grandis Chondrocladia guiteli Topsent, 1904Chondrocladia koltuni Vacelet, 2006Chondrocladia lampadiglobus Vacelet, 2006 - Ping-pong tree SpongeChondrocladia latrunculioides Lopes, Bravo & Hajdu, 2011Chondrocladia levii Cristobo, Urgorri & Ríos, 2005Chondrocladia lyra Lee et al., 2012Chondrocladia magna Tanita, 1965Chondrocladia latrunculioides Lopes, Bravo & Hajdu, 2011Chondrocladia multichela Lévi, 1964Chondrocladia nani Boury-Esnault & Van Beveren, 1982Chondrocladia nicolae Cristobo, Urgorri & Ríos, 2005Chondrocladia occulta Chondrocladia pulvinata Lévi, 1964Chondrocladia rogersi Hestetun, Rapp & Xavier, 2017Chondrocladia robertballardi Cristobo, Rios, Pomponi & Xavier, 2015Chondrocladia saffronae Goodwin, Berman, Downey & Hendry, 2017Chondrocladia schlatteri Lopes, Bravo & Hajdu, 2011Chondrocladia scolionema Lévi, 1993Chondrocladia stipitata Ridley & Dendy, 1886Chondrocladia tasmaniensis Vacelet, [Michelle Michelle Kelly (marine scientist)|Kelly (marine scientist)|Kelly] & Schlacher-Hoenlinger, 2009Chondrocladia turbiformis Vacelet, Kelly & Schlacher-Hoenlinger, 2009Chondrocladia vaceleti Cristobo, Urgorri & Ríos, 2005Chondrocladia verticillata Topsent, 1920Chondrocladia virgata Thomson, 1873 Chondrocladia yatsui Topsent, 1930An undescribed species of Chondrocladia was observed off Montagu Island in the Southern Ocean; it has been dubbed the "death-ball sponge" by the media.
C. alaskensis and C. pulchra are better placed in Crambe or Monanchora.
C. dura, C. ramosa and C. sessilis are junior synonyms of Iotrochota purpurea.
C. flabelliformis is now in Neocladia.