Comparative structural morphometry and elemental composition of three marine sponges from western coast of India

Three marine sponges Halichondria glabrata, Cliono lobata, and Spirastrella pachyspira from the western coastal region of India were compared for their morphometry, biochemical, and elemental composition. One-way analysis of variance was applied for spicule morphometry results. Length, width, and length:width ratio were calculated independently. The ratio of length:width varied from 35 to 42 among the grown samples, which remained in the range of 10-22 in young sample at the beginning of studies. However, no significant change was observed in spicule width compared to length. Elemental compositions of marine sponges were determined by field emission gun-scanning electron microscope. Scanning electron microscopy data revealed that the spicules of all the three sponges were mostly composed of O (47-56%) and Si (30-40%), whereas Al (14.33%) was only detected in the spicules of C. lobata. Apart from these, K, Ni, Ca, Fe, Mg, Na, and S were additionally detected in all the three samples. Presence of heavy metals in the sponges was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. Results showed that iron was present in a large amount in samples, followed by zinc, lead, and copper.