The recognition that all macroorganisms live in symbiotic association with microbial
communities has opened up a new field in biology. Animals, plants, and algae are now …

With the decline of reef-building corals on tropical reefs, sponges have emerged as an
important component of changing coral reef ecosystems. Seemingly simple, sponges are …

Coral reefs underpin a range of ecosystem goods and services that contribute to the well‐
being of millions of people. However, tropical coral reefs in the Anthropocene are likely to be …

Sponges are the oldest known extant animal-microbe symbiosis. These ubiquitous benthic
animals play an important role in marine ecosystems in the cycling of dissolved organic …

The sponge-loop hypothesis proposes that coral reef sponges convert the dissolved organic
matter (DOM) released by benthic primary producers into particulate detritus available to …

Interest in the ecology of sponges on coral reefs has grown in recent years with mounting
evidence that sponges are becoming dominant members of reef communities, particularly in …

Sponges are unique among metazoans in their ability to use dissolved organic matter
(DOM), the largest pool of organic matter in the ocean, as a major food source. The effect of …

Hexactinellid sponges are common in the deep sea, but their functional integration into
those ecosystems remains poorly understood. The phylogenetically related species …

Marine sponges have been successful in their expansion across diverse ecological niches
around the globe. Pioneering work attributed this success to both a well-developed …

While sponges are well‐known to be suspension feeders, consumption of dissolved organic
carbon (DOC) has recently been highlighted as a mechanism whereby sponges may avoid …