About This Project

Freshwater sponges are the pinnacle of the weird and wonderful. As a basal animal that most people don’t even know exists, the freshwater sponges remain relatively understudied. The goal of this project is to survey, collect, and identify freshwater sponges within the Great Lakes region. Successful completion of the project will generate new occurrence records of at least 100 Michigan waterways. Our data will be compared the only other study of its kind conducted 87 years ago.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

This project serves to fill a gap in our basic understanding of the freshwater sponge ecology of the Great Lakes region as well as providing an insight into the conservation merit and needs of this overlooked aquatic animal. The literature is filled with bits and pieces about freshwater sponge biology and ecology, but few large scale studies have ever been completed. The last survey took place almost 90 years ago, although its existence means Michigan is ahead of the game in sponge research.

Where do freshwater sponges occur in the Great Lakes region?

What is the significance of this project?

This project will update our understanding of the current distribution of Michigan's 12 previously identified species of freshwater sponges. It may also result in the identification of previously undocumented species or the disappearance of previously described species.

This project will also provide the foundational research base for future sponge projects to be carried out by our research group. These planned projects include comparative genomics and microanatomy of freshwater sponges.

What are the goals of the project?

Our primary goal is to collect sponge specimens from previously determined sites and identify what species the specimens are. In other words, resurvey the study sites of the last freshwater sponge survey in Michigan. This will allow us to not only elucidate current distribution patterns but to explore changes in distribution.