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Huge team effort lead and pushed to completion by the one and only Dirk Erpenbeck! Paper in Journal of Biogeography onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Open Access provided by project DEAL

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Recognizing this hidden diversity is important for understanding marine evolution and for improving biodiversity assessments and conservation planning.

This means sponge diversity in the Indo-Pacific is far more structured than previously thought, with strong regional endemism across marine provinces.

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Many marine sponges were long assumed to be widespread across oceans. Genetic data now show that many of these are complexes of distinct regional species rather than single globally distributed taxa.

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Sponges in the Indo-Pacific: a hotspot of endemism

🧽 New LMU research shows the Indo-Pacific is a hotspot of sponge endemism. Large-scale DNA barcoding reveals that many “cosmopolitan” sponge species are actually regionally restricted lineages—uncovering hidden marine biodiversity. 🧪 @lmu.de @lmugeoumwelt.bsky.social #molpalmuc

lmu.de

Using genetic analyses, LMU geobiologists have shown that many sponge species in the Indo-Pacific are regionally unique.

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These patterns are both present in the eukaryotic and prokaryotic sponge-associated communities, since both display similar levels of host species specificity.

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This offers further support for the phylogenetic nature of the sponge microbiome, where microbial communities reflect the evolutionary ancestry of their host species.

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We found species-specific prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities despite the close sympatry of the three Mediterranean Tethya species studied.

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Using high-throughput 16S and 18S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we explore the prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities associated with three sympatric Mediterranean demosponges, namely Tethya aurantium, Tethya meloni, and Tethya citrina.

Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.eurosky.social · 13/02/2026

Sponges harbor complex and diverse microbiomes that contribute to the host’s fitness and, ultimately, the health of the ecosystems sponges inhabit.

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🧪 New preprint alert: "Ecological Filtering is a Better Predictor of Microbiome Assembly than Coevolution in marine sponges" @lmu.de @lmugeoumwelt.bsky.social #molpalmuc #geobiomuc www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Gert Wörheide

Ute Hentschel @utehentschel.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

ASG Sponges genome note #17. This little glass sponge, Bolosoma cyanae, traveled a long way from the deep South Pacific Ocean to Hinxton/Cambridge, where its genome was sequenced. wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/11-24 Learn more about the absorbing world of sponges: lnkd.in/ehRap3CW

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Reposted by Gert Wörheide

🧬Jacob L Steenwyk @jlsteenwyk.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

NEW pub in @science.org 🥳 Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life? For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided. We provide new evidence suggesting that... 🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Reposted by Gert Wörheide

Alessio Capobianco @acapomorphic.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Out now in Biology Letters, my latest paper tackles an apparently simple question: how many characters are needed to reconstruct a phylogeny? TL;DR: in most cases between 100 and 500, more than a substantial portion of morphological datasets, but the story is more complex... doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...

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Reposted by Gert Wörheide

Arnau Sebé-Pedrós @arnausebe.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

We are happy to share our latest work in @nature.com . We study the genomic and cellular basis of facultative symbiosis in Oculina patagonica - a Mediterranean coral remarkable for its ability to survive long periods without algal symbionts. Led by Shani Levy and @xgrau.bsky.social rdcu.be/eLbaZ

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Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.eurosky.social · 22/05/2025

also many thanks to @fonamental.bsky.social for handling the nice and enjoyable review process at @peercommunityin.bsky.social #pcigenomics!

Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.eurosky.social · 22/05/2025

We just published our first paper in the Peer Community Journal - diamond open access, no APCs! Awesome experience, with less than a week from submission after receommendation by #pcigenomics. Highly recommended! #molpalmuc @lmumuenchen.bsky.social @peercommunityin.bsky.social

peercommunityjournal.org

Genomic changes are varied across congeneric species pairs of animals

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Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.eurosky.social · 10/05/2025

New contribution in @elife.bsky.social: Genetic parallels in biomineralization of the calcareous sponge Sycon ciliatum and stony corals doi.org/10.7554/eLif... @lmumuenchen.bsky.social #molpalmuc

doi.org

Genetic parallels in biomineralization of the calcareous sponge Sycon ciliatum and stony corals

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Reposted by Gert Wörheide

Thorsten Reusch @thorstenreusch.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Junior faculty job alert in Germany - Marine Evolutionary Genomics @geomarkiel.bsky.social / University of Kiel www.geomar.de/en/karriere/... Marine study system of your choice (no microbes, sorry…), excellent infrastructure and ship access, moderate teaching requirements, closing date 6 June

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Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.eurosky.social · 12/01/2025

🧪 🧬 New preprint alert: The largest molecular biodiversity study of sponges to date across the Indo-Pacific (>1900 samples) reveals high levels of regional demosponge endemism. A long time in the making, w/ many lovely international collaborators 😀 doi.org/10.1101/2024... @lmumuenchen.bsky.social

Jaccard dissimilarities between the samples of the twelve Indo-Pacific marine provinces, including singletons. Tropical and subtropical marine province areas and boundaries are shaded in white, temperate in light blue. Colour and thickness of the connecting lines between tropical and subtropical marine provinces indicate their dissimilarity levels.

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Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.eurosky.social · 27/12/2024

revised version here (27-12-2024) doi.org/10.1101/2024...

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Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.eurosky.social · 09/12/2024

the foundation of biodiversity research - natural history collections #biodiversity

a natural history collection with rows of cupboards and specimen jars

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Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.eurosky.social · 22/11/2024

please add me to the feed my labs website, we are studying the evolution of coral reef organisms www.geobiology.eu google scholar scholar.google.de/citations?us... thanks!

geobiology.eu

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Gert Wörheide @gwoerhe.eurosky.social · 21/11/2024

sponge, coral, and echinoderm systematics and taxonomy - feel free to add me 🙂