If you want to discover a new species, try going for a walk. You might well spot something. Or look closely your aquarium the next time.
Freshwater sponges represent about 3% of all diversity in Porifera, with about 260 valid species. This low diversity is probably related to the paucity of taxonomists and the difficulties inherent to surveying inland environments. In the last decade, only fourteen new species of freshwater sponges were described in the world, when these numbers are compared with results for the marine environment, one finds that 775 marine sponge species were described in the same period.
This 2015, brazilian researchers discovered a tiny freshwater sponge. The new species was actually discovered in a 200 liter aquarium in São Paulo, Brazil. It was named to honor Fernando Barletta, the owner of the aquarium whose curiosity permitted the discovery of the new species,
Freshwater sponges grow on sturdy submerged objects in clean streams, lakes, and rivers. Because they are sensitive to water conditions, their presence indicates high water quality and low levels of pollutants. As all sponges they are filter feeders. They obtain food from the flow of water through their bodies and from symbiotic algae.
Photo: Heteromeyenia barlettai in situ, adhered to a leave of the macrophyte (Microsorum pteropusi) scale bar: 4mm
Reference: Pinheiro et al. 2015. A new species of freshwater sponge, Heteromeyenia barlettai sp. nov. from an aquarium in São Paulo, Brazil (Spongillida: Spongillidae) zootaxa
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