Reproductive cycles of the sympatric excavating sponges Cliona celata and Cliona viridis in the Mediterranean Sea

Clionaids are excavating sponges, which live in and grow into calcareous substrates. We studied the sexual reproductive cycles of two clionaid sponges coexisting in a Mediterranean coastal basin (Porto Cesareo, Italy), Cliona viridis and Cliona celata, by analyzing monthly tissue samples of ten specimens of each species collected over a 2-year period. From May to June of the second study year, supplementary samples were taken weekly. Up to 90% of the specimens of C. viridis and 70% of those of C. celata sampled were reproductive during the study. In both species, but particularly in C. viridis, reproductive investment, measured as the percentage of sponge tissue occupied by gametes, was high. Oocytes were present almost year-round in both species, except for a 1-4-month period after zygote release. In contrast, spermatogenesis occurred most frequently in May in both species, when (May-June) oocytes reached their greatest diameters. Cliona viridis and C. celata are hermaphrodites, with oocytes and spermatic cysts coexisting in 10% of the studied individuals in the first year of the study, and in 30% during the second. No developing embryos or larvae were incubated in the sponge tissues, and fertilization was not observed. Temperature may play a role in triggering some important phases of the reproduction of these Cliona, such as oocyte maturation and spermatogenesis, which occurred when water temperature increased from 17 degrees C to 25 degrees C between May and June.