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Schedule

11th World Sponge Conference

Reconnected

Sunday October 9th

15.00 - 17.00

Registration

Bring your poster for session I

Monday October 10th

8.00 --

Registration & coffee

9.00 - 9.15

Welcome by Naturalis

Maaike van de Kamp-Romijn (Director Research & Education)

9.15 - 9.30

Opening by Organizing committee

Nicole de Voogd, Jasper de Goeij, Detmer Sipkema, Ronald Osinga

Theme II: Ecosystem Function and Service, chair Shirley Pomponi

9.30 - 10.15

Keynote speaker Ana Riesgo

Recruitment and connection: pillars of sponge resilience and ecosystem provisioning

10.15 - 10.30

talk

Lauren K. Olinger

Sponges with microbial symbionts transform dissolved organic matter and take up benthic cyanobacterial mat exudates

10.30 - 10.45

talk

Lucía Pita

Simulated extreme summer warming conditions alter Aplysina aerophoba’s capacity to respond to microbial signals

10.45 - 11.15

Coffee break

Theme II: Ecosystem Function and Service, chair Ana Riesgo

11.15 - 11.30

talk

Laura Steindler

Aerobic Methane Cycling in the Sponge-Holobiont

11.30 - 11.45

talk

Benjamin Mueller

What the sponge is DOM?

11.45 - 11.50

speedtalk

Marta Ribes

Community nutrient fluxes in the Mediterranean coralligenous: sponges are key players

11.50 - 11.55

speedtalk

Leontine Becking

When reefs become hot and murky: will sponges, macroalgae and benthic cyanobacterial mats take over?

11.55 - 12.00

speedtalk

Christopher Spagnolia

Evaluating the Effect of Thermal Anomalies on Coral Reef Benthic Competitive Interactions

12.00 - 12.15

talk

Federica Maggioni

Shifts in sponge organic matter recycling and symbiont photosynthetic activity under extreme environmental conditions

12.15 - 12.30

talk

Jan Vicente

Ecological succession of the sponge cryptofauna in response to climate change stressors

12.30 - 13.30

Lunch

Theme I: Species and Populations, chair Paco Cardenas

13.30 - 13.45

talk

Inês Gregório

Present-day and future distribution of the glass sponge Pheronema carpenteri in a changing ocean

13.45 - 14.00

talk

Maggie Reddy

Biological and chemical diversity of sponges from Futuna Island in Eastern Indo-Pacific

14.00 - 14.15

talk

Dirk Erpenbeck

Molecular biodiversity of Indo-Pacific Demosponges

14.15 - 14.30

talk

Diana Ugalde

Which scale matters? Explaining sponge diversity of two ecoregions: β-diversity, scales of spatial variation, and ecological processes

14.30 - 14.35

speedtalk

Bobbie Renfro

Filtering through our methodologies: A comparison of techniques for documenting tropical marine sponges

14.35 - 14.40

speedtalk

André Padua

Filling the gaps of calcareous sponge (Porifera, Calcarea) diversity in Eastern Brazil

14.40 - 14.45

speedtalk

Bruno Annunziata

Biogeography of marine sponge fauna along the Western South Atlantic

14.45 - 15.00

talk

Nadia Santodomingo

On the evolution of Tethya species: integrating morphology, molecular markers, and microbiomes

15.00 - 15.30

Coffee break

Theme I: Species and Populations, chair Dirk Erpenbeck

15.30 - 15.45

talk

Andreu Santín

Mediterranean coral provinces as sponge diversity reservoirs: is there a Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals sponge fauna?

15.45 - 16.00

talk

Janie Wulff

Parallel phenotypic plasticity and divergent ecological strategies in molecularly and morphologically similar sponge species

16.00 - 16.15

talk

Philip Heller

Spiculometer: Toward development of a high-throughput, automated identification and measurement system for sponges using neural network identification and classification of sponge spicules

16.15 - 16.20

speedtalk

Heidi Meyer

Beyond the tip of the seamount

16.20 - 16.25

speedtalk

Yen-Huei Li

The genus Cliothosa: new diagnostic characters from spicule biometry

16.25 - 16.30

speedtalk

Torcuato Pulido Mantas

A photogrammetric approach to estimate growth in Porifera: Sarcotragus foetidus (Schmidt, 1862) and Chondrosia reniformis (Nardo, 1847) study cases.

16.30 - 16.35

speedtalk

Lina Bayona

Chemical profiles of three different genetic groups of giant barrel sponges and possible implications in their response to environmental conditions

16.35 - 16.50

talk

Thomas Turner

A common garden of exotic Halichondriidae in Southern California

16.50 - 17.05

talk

Julio Diaz

A common garden of exotic Halichondriidae in Southern California

17.05 - 18.30     

Naturalis exhibition evening opening 

17.30 - 18.30

Poster session I

18.30 - 19.30

Icebreaker at Naturalis

Sunday
Monday

Tuesday October 11th

Deep-sea sponges (mixed themes), chair Jasper de Goeij

9.00 - 9.15

Maria Belen-Arias

Ocean-wide deep-sea biodiversity assessment using sponges as natural eDNA samplers

talk

9.15 - 9.30

Joana Xavier

The Azores region as a biodiversity hotspot for deep-sea sponge fauna

talk

9.30 - 9.35

speedtalk

Dorte Janussen

An exceptional occurrence of deep-sea sponges in the region of former Larsen Ice Shelves, Antarctic Peninsula, with the description of two new species

9.35 - 9.40

speedtalk

Tanja Stratmann

Habitat types and megabenthos composition from three sponge-dominated high-Arctic seamounts

9.40 - 9.45

speedtalk

Ulrike Hanz

Hotspots of carbon and nutrient cycling in the deep-sea: Oxygen uptake and inorganic nutrient dynamics in an Arctic sponge ground

9.45 - 10.00

talk

Manuel Maldonado

How a sponge aggregation works: Teachings from the Vazella ground

10.00 - 10.15

talk

Furu Mienis

The important role of sponges in carbon and nitrogen cycling in deep-sea biological hotspots

10.15 - 10.30

talk

Amanda Kahn

Factors affecting respiration and water processing by deep-sea sponges

10.30 - 11:00

Coffee break

Deep-sea sponges (mixed themes), chair Ute Hentschel

11.00 - 11.15

talk

Kathrin Busch

The Deep-sea Sponge Microbiome Project: Biodiversity, environmental drivers and sustainability of the global deep-sea sponge microbiome

11.15 - 11.30

talk

Vasilis Gerovasileiou

Insights to the understudied sponge assemblages of the deep eastern Mediterranean Sea

11.30 - 11.35

speedtalk

Magalie Castelin

Diversity and structure of sponge-associated microbial communities living on the seamounts of the New Caledonian EEZ.

11.35 - 11.40

speedtalk

Javier Cristobo

Sponges of El Cachucho (Cantabrian Sea), the first Marine Protected Area in Spain

11.40 - 11.55

talk

Celso Domingos

Deep-sea glass sponge fauna (Porifera, Hexactinellida) of the tropical central Atlantic seamounts: new species and diversity patterns

11.55 - 12.10

talk

Swee-Cheng Lim

New demosponges in the abyssal nodule fields of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (Pacific Ocean)

12.10 - 12.25

talk

Erik Wurz

Adverse effects of crushed seafloor massive sulphide deposits on the boreal deep-water sponge Geodia barretti Bowerbank, 1858

and its associated fauna

12.25 - 13.30

Lunch

Theme III: Microbial Ecology, chair Detmer Sipkema

13.30 - 14.15

Keynote speaker

Torsten Thomas

Metabolic and molecular interactions in the sponge holobiont

14.15 - 14.30

talk

Michelle Achlatis

Shedding (sun)light on the function of photosymbiosis in sponges

14.30 - 14.45

talk

Pamela Engelberts

Unravelling symbiosis in the Great Barrier Reef sponge Ianthella basta

14.45 - 14.50

speedtalk

Asimenia Gavriilidou

Candidatus Nemesobacterales, a sponge-specific clade of the candidate phylum Desulfobacterota adapted to a symbiotic lifestyle

14.50 - 14.55

speedtalk

Tamara Stuij

The impacts of humic substances, temperature and ultraviolet radiation on sponge bacterial community structure and diversity

14.55 - 15.00

speedtalk

Valerio Mazzalla

Inspecting the microbiome and metabolomic compartments of Mediterranean sponge holobionts through an integrated ‘omics approach.

15.00 - 15.30

Coffee break

Theme III: Microbial Ecology, chair Torsten Thomas

15.30 - 15.45

talk

Bettina Glasl

Reduced to a minimum – unprecedented genome reduction of an ammonia-oxidizing archaeal sponge symbiont

15.45 - 16.00

talk

Qi Yang

Uncovering the structural and functional specificity of the microbiome within marine sponge stem cells

16.00 - 16.15

talk

Lara Schmittmann

Stability of dominant sponge-symbiont during antibiotic-induced microbiome disturbance

16.15 - 16.20

speedtalk

Lilach Raijman-Nagar

Sponge-microbial associations as a thermal refugia: the case study of the Red Sea sponge Diacarnus erythraenus

16.20 - 16.25

speedtalk

Rodrigo Costa

Differential chitin degradation and utilization features across host-associated and free-living marine microbiomes revealed by an integrated culturomics-metagenomics approach

16.25 - 16.40

talk

Catarina Loureiro

Exploring the Uncharted Biosynthetic Diversity of Marine Sponge Holobionts

16.40 - 16.55

talk

Liv Ascer

Diethylhexyl phthalate acute exposure affects microbial community structure in Hymeniacidon heliophila (Demospongiae, Halichondriidae)

16.55 - 17.10

talk

Sven Rohde

Environmental changes affect chemical, physiological and ecological performance of a sponge-cyanobacteria holobiont

Tuesday

Wednesday October 12th

Theme V: Applied Science, chair Ronald Osinga

9.00 - 9.45

Keynote speaker

Shirley Pomponi

Sponge Cell Culture: What Worked, What Didn’t, What’s Next

9.45 - 10.00

Miguel Rocha

Marine sponge collagen and Sr-doped fish bones-based 3D printed scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

talk

9.30 - 9.45

talk

Hermann Ehrlich

Actin and the realization of unique biosilica-based architectures in sponges

9.45 - 9.50

speedtalk

Laurent Meijer

From Sea to Pharmacy: Leucettinib-21, a drug candidate derived from Leucettamine B, a calcareous sponge (Leucetta microraphis)

natural product, under development for the correction of cognitive disabilities in people with Down syndrome or Alzheimer’s disease

9.50 - 9.55

speedtalk

Adrian Galitz

Secondary metabolites in sponges: Current insights on taxonomic specificity, evolutionary history, spatial variability, and genomic pathways

9.55 - 10.00

speedtalk

Anshika Singh

Soak up like a sponge: The bioaccumulation potential of marine sponges from Gulf of Mannar, India.

10.00 - 10.15

talk

Eleonora Tassara

Seasonal Molecular Modifications Observed in the Extracellular Matrix of the Marine Demosponge Chondrosia reniformis (Nardo, 1847) and their Possible Implications in Biotechnological Usage

10.15 - 10.30

talk

Tiago Silva

Extraction of collagen from different species of marine sponges: protein comparison and assessment of biotechnological potential

10.30 - 11:00

Coffee break

Theme V: Applied Science, chair Peter Schupp

11.00 - 11.15

talk

Kenneth Sandoval

The Haliclona indistincta genome reveals a new family of Metazoan megasynthases

11.15 - 11.30

talk

Camilla Roveta

Heavy meals for a light sponge: mercury bioaccumulation in the sponge Chondrosia reniformis (Nardo, 1847) and its prokaryotic community

11.30 - 11.45

talk

Barbara Crouch

Survival and growth of sponge recruits in a land-based nursery

11.45 - 11.50

speedtalk

Mert Gokalp

The last Dance with Chondrosia reniformis “A decade–long effort for large–scale maricultures for collagen production”

11.50 - 11.55

speedtalk

Marcela Loy Martinez

Establishment of Methods for Sponge Hybridoma Clonal Growth

11.55 - 12.05

Nicole de Voogd

The World Porifera Database

12.05 - 12.15

Remembering Sponge scientists

12.15 - 12.45

Lunch

12.45 - 13.45

Poster session 2

14.00 - 16.00

Sponge genomics workshops (open to everyone)

14.00 - 17.00

World Porifera Database editor workshop (only editors)

Wednesday

Thursday October 13th

Theme II: Ecosystem Function and Service, chair Ben Mueller

9.00 - 9.15

María López-Acosta

Nudibranch predation boosts sponge silicon cycling

talk

9.15 - 9.30

Wang Cai

Harnessing sponge biofouling on artificial structures as natural eDNA sen-tinels for pelagic assemblages

talk

9.30 - 9.35

speedtalk

Teresa Morganti

Metabolic performance of four Mediterranean sponge species over a seasonal basis

9.35 - 9.40

speedtalk

Itziar Burgues

Seasonal variation in sponge pellet production rates in the Coraligenous habitat from in situ and ex situ experimental designs

9.40 - 9.45

speedtalk

Tal Idan

A decade in the twilight zone - studying mesophotic sponge grounds in the Mediterranean coast of Israel

9.45 - 10.00

talk

Peter Schupp

Mass mortality event of the barrel sponge Xestospongia sp.:Population dynamics and size distribution in Koh Phangan, Gulf of Thailand

10.00 - 10.15

talk

Brian Strehlow

Transcriptomic responses of sponge holobionts to in situ, seasonal anoxia and hypoxia

10.15 - 10.30

talk

Ana Colaço

Functional role of the sponge Pheronema carpenteri to its associated fauna

10.30 - 11:00

Coffee break

Fresh-water sponges (mixed themes), chair Scott Nichols

11.00 - 11.15

talk

Ulisses Pinheiro

How far can the gemmules reach? Biogeography of South American Freshwater sponges.

11.15 - 11.30

talk

Stephen Kolomyjec

Freshwater Sponges of the Great Lakes Region: Biodiversity, Distribution, and Phylogeny

11.30 - 11.35

speedtalk

Benoit Paix

The microbial community during the first life stages of the freshwater sponge Spongilla lacustris

11.35 - 11.40

speedtalk

Mallory McNulty

Bioaccumulation and Bioregulation of Trace Elements Within Freshwater Sponges

11.40 - 11.55

talk

Fabian Ruperti

Whole-body contractions in Spongilla lacustris are initiated by tissue relaxation and accompanied by physiological defense mechanisms

11.55 - 12.10

talk

April Hill

Development of Ephydatia muelleri as a model for studying animal:algal endosymbiosis

12.10 - 12.25

talk

Cristina Díez-Vives

The relationship between the genotype and the microbial communities in the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri

12.25 - 13.30

Lunch

Theme IV: Organismal, Cell and Molecular Biology, chair Andia Chaves-Fonnegra

13.30 - 14.15

Keynote speaker

Scott Nichols

Dissecting the molecular mechanisms of whole-body contractions in Ephydatia muelleri

14.15 - 14.30

talk

Aida Verdes

Mapping transcriptome-wide gene expression within sponge tissue sections to investigate gonad evolution

14.30 - 14.45

talk

Dennis Lavrov

Loss of mitochondrial tRNA genes and mitochondrial import of cytosolic tRNA in Haplosclerida (Demospongiae, Porifera)

14.45 - 14.50

speedtalk

Antea Talajić

Characterization of cancer-associated RRAS2 and BRMS1 homologs from the freshwater sponge Eunapius subterraneus

14.50 - 14.55

speedtalk

Sarah Flensburg

Diurnal rhythms and light regulated behaviour in the demosponge Tethya wilhelma

14.55 - 15.00

speedtalk

Marco Giovine

Lysosome related Biosilica Machinery in the Demospongiae Petrosia ficiformis (Poiret, 1789)

15.00 - 15.30

Coffee break

Theme IV: Organismal, Cell and Molecular Biology, chair Dennis Lavrov

15.30 - 15.45

talk

Alexander Ereskovsky

Hidden diversity of regenerative mechanisms of sponges

15.45 - 16.00

talk

Andia Chaves-Fonnegra

Serotonin (5-HT) in Sponge Holobionts

16.00 - 16.15

talk

Kristina Dominko

Structure and function of cancer-related Developmentally regulated GTP-binding protein 1 (DRG1) is conserved between sponges and humans

16.15 - 16.20

speedtalk

Josephine Goldstein

Particle capture and transport in the demosponge Halichondria panicea

16.20 - 16.25

speedtalk

Angela Marulanda-Gómez

Development of a novel, quantitative in-vivo phagocytosis assay to unravel mechanisms of interaction in sponge-microbe symbiosis

16.25 - 16.30

speedtalk

Chiara Conti

Establishing an experimental system to investigate sponge-microbe recognition mechanisms

16.30 - 16.45

talk

Sara Campana

Metabolic responses of HMA and LMA sponges to changing coral reefs

16.45 - 17.00

talk

Meggie Hudspith

Macropinocytosis by sponge cells drives dissolved organic matter uptake in sponge holobionts

17.00 - 17.15

talk

Jacob Musser

Profiling cellular diversity in sponges informs animal cell type evolution

17.15 - 17.30

talk

Elizabeth Urban-Gedamke

Differentiation and Reaggregation of Cryopreserved Sponge Cells.

19.00 - 21.00

Sponge dinner at Naturalis

Student awards and logo prize

Thursday

Friday October 12th

Theme I: Species and Populations, chair Lucia Pita

9.00 - 9.45

Keynote speaker

Paco Cardenas

Pili intricati intertexti

9.45 - 9.50

Christine Schönberg

Sponge functional growth forms

speedtalk

9.50 - 9.55

speedtalk

Jaaziel García-Hernández

Ents of Coral Reefs - Xestospongia muta functioning as oases for biodiversity

9.55 - 10.00

speedtalk

Claire Goodwin

Environmental predictors of sponge distribution in a potential Marine Protected Area – Eastern Shore Islands, Nova Scotia

10.00 - 10.15

talk

Raquel Pereira

On trees and vines – attempting to solve the phylogenetic relationships in Suberitida

10.15 - 10.30

talk

Marie Grenier

Bath sponges integrative taxonomy (Demospongiae, Dictyoceratida, Spongiidae): few certainties and a mess to be cleaned up

10.30 - 10.45

talk

Joëlle van der Sprong

Genomics to aid species identification in sponges - a case study of the Haplosclerida (Demospongiae)

10.45 - 10.50

speedtalk

Julio Fernandez

Twelve new species of Hymedesmia Bowerbank, 1864 (Hymedesmiidae, Poecilosclerida, Demospongiae) from the Chilean coast.

10.55 - 10.55

speedtalk

Erika Neave

Unravelling basin scale fish community structure through eDNA analysis of sponge tissues from natural history collections

10.55 - 11.00

speedtalk

Tatjana Bakran-Petricioli

Sponge assemblages along the light gradient in semi-submerged artificial caves in the Eastern Adriatic

11:00 - 11.30

Coffee break

Theme IV: Organismal, Cell and Molecular Biology (and sponges that are sneezing), chair Claire Goodwin

11.30 - 11.45

talk

Jose María Lorente-Sorolla

Evolution of sexual reproduction in sponges: genetic sex determination and microbial association with sexual mode strategies

11.45 - 12.00

talk

Oliver Voigt

Dynamic expression of biomineralisation genes in calcareous sponge sclerocytes

12.00 - 12.15

talk

Maria Eleonora Rossi

The evolution of molecular toolkits for biosilicification in demosponges (Porifera)

12.15 - 12.20

speedtalk

Marina Pozzolini

Near-infrared light effect in sponge tissue regeneration: a study on Chondrosia reniformis (Nardo, 1847)

12.20 - 12.25

speedtalk

Niño Posadas

Lineage-specific XBP1 homologs activate the unfolded protein response of a calcareous sponge under stress

12.25 - 12.30

speedtalk

Vanessa Ho

Why do sponges sneeze? Analysis of 3 years of hourly images and oceanographic data

12.30 - 12.35

speedtalk

Poppy Clark

Automated Image Analysis by New Machine Learning Tool allows Long-term Deep-sea Sponge Behaviour Study

12.35 - 12.50

talk

Niklas Kornder

Sponges sneeze mucus to shed particulate waste from their seawater inlet pores

12.50 - 13.05

talk

Maha Moussa

Insight on thermal stress response of demosponge Chondrosia reniformis (Nardo, 1847)

13.05 - 13.20

talk

Bárbara Ribeiro

Calcareous sponges in a high-CO2 world

13.20 - 13.30

Conference Closing

+ poster and presentation award

No lunch included

14.30 - 18.00

Leiden University lab

Sponge taxonomy Workshop (max 30 people)

Friday
Social event

Social event

Standing ovation

Ice breaker and Gala dinner will be announced

Virtual platform

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The online components of the 11th WSC can be accessed via the virtual platform. Participants can watch live streams of the opening and closing sessions and key note lectures. Thesenwill also be available as video to watch later. It will not be possible to exchange questions via the chat.

Virtual platform
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