A guide to the deep-water sponges of - NMFS Scientific Publications ...

Appendix IV. Spicule types
This appendix includes scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) images of spicules from select calcareous
sponges and demosponges collected during the
2004 Aleutian Island expeditions. It also includes
several SEM images of spicules from a few hexactinellid
sponge species that are common in Alaskan
waters. The purpose of the appendix is to provide
the reader with a representative collection of spicule
images so that they may gain an understanding of the
terms used in the guide and an appreciation for the
Class Calcarea, Family Grantiidae, Leucandra poculiformis Hozawa, 1918.
147
variation between species and among spicule types.
This collection also serves as a source of reference
material for those who wish to microscopically examine
sponges. We refer the reader to the Thesaurus
of Sponge Morphology (Boury-Esnault and Rützler,
1997) for a comprehensive glossary of terminology
and a pictorial guide to spicule types and skeletal
structures. The species in this appendix have been
arranged systematically to family and alphabetically
arranged within family.
(A) Overview of occurring spicules: large tri- and tetractines and small oxeas; (B) large triactine; (C) a rare large
tetractine; and (D) acanthose microxeas with characteristic bend called a “lance-head” by Hozawa.