Annotated checklist of sponges (Porifera) of the South China Sea region.

Abstract

A'1 .Ant.stt'nlunt, 'l he NcthcrlundsARSTRACT.-Man1, inrportant scicntil'ic collcctions ol'Poritera havc bcen madc within the South China Sca region, comr.ncncing in thc latc 1700s during the era of thc 'rpice tradc'.blrt no synthesis or invcntory of this l'auna had so lar been attcmptcd.This annotatcd systeInatic chccklist of ntat'inc sponges contilins over l 5(X) spccics recordcd in thc scicntil'ic Iitel'atr"rrc (including malinc natural products records).or so I'ar unpuhlishcd collections known to erist in lrLlseur']rs.As ltrr rnany othcr nturinc invertcbratc phyla the SoLrth China Sea rcgion contains an cxccptionally high dircrsiLi ol sponr:cs.witlr an cxpcctation that many morc specics await discovcry and dcscriptirrn.This checklist indicatcs that about 57 ol'the fauna is wiclely distributcd irr the Indowest Pacil'ic.nrainly associatcd with the coral rccl'l'auna, somc wide Indo-Pacil'ic spccics.a l'cw known to bc introduccd through hunran activitics, whercas most appear to bc 'cndernic'to this rcgion.This lattcl group is lclatively morc spccialised in its ecological lcquircrrcnts than widcspread coral lccl'specics, living on non-crncrgcnt dccpcr t'ccl.s.soli bottonrs, trawl grounds and othcr habitats which are rarely considcrcd in conscrvation stratcgics.These stratcgics are discusscd as they rclatc to particular charactcristics of thc spongc l'auna.