The goal of the research presented here was to examine phenotypic plasticity exhibited by three morphotypes of the common Caribbean sponge Anthosigmella varians (Duchassaing & Michelotti). We were interested in examining the biotic (and, to a lesser extent,

Sponges have evolved a variety of chemical and structural defense mechanisms to avoid predation. While chemical defense is well established in sponges, studies on structural defense are rare and with ambiguous results. We used field and laboratory experiments

Several Hadromerid sponge species harbor intracellular zooxanthellae, and these associations appear to be more stable than coral-zooxanthellae symbioses. In a series of transplant experiments, we observed bleaching and symbiont recovery in the sponge