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Mueller Marine Biodiversity Records  (2017) 10:10 
DOI 10.1186/s41200-017-0111-4MARINE RECORD Open AccessFirst documentation of encrusting
specimen of Cliona delitrix on Curaçao:
a cause for concern?
Benjamin MuellerAbstract
The coral excavating sponge Cliona delitrix is one of the most aggressive and conspicuous excavating sponges on
Caribbean reefs. While C. delitrix is very prominent displaying its typical encrusting growth form (β-stage) on the
Caribbean island of Bonaire, it is rather elusive and only exhibits a papillated habitus (α-stage) on the neighboring
island of Curaçao. Here I document the first two encrusting specimen of C. delitrix on Curaçao and discuss potential
explanations for island-specific differences in its habitus and occurrence. An increase of encrusting specimen could
have profound consequences for Curaçaoan reefs and should thus be monitored closely.
Keywords: Cliona delitrix, Sponge, Growth stage, Coral reef, CuraçaoBackground
The coral excavating sponge Cliona delitrix (Pang 1973)
(Hadromerida, Demospongiae) is one of the most de-
structive bioeroders on Caribbean coral reefs (e.g.
Chaves-Fonnegra et al. 2007). It can excavate 10–12 cm
into coral skeletons and/or the limestone framework
(Pang 1973; Zilberberg et al. 2006), and spreads laterally
at mean rates of ~1.5 cm y−1 (Chaves-Fonnegra and Zea
2011; Rützler 2002). While doing so it can kill adjacent
corals by undermining tissue fronts and filaments
(Chaves-Fonnegra and Zea 2007). Initially, C. delitrix
forms discrete ostial and oscular papillae (α-stage)
(Fig. 1a). Quickly these papillae start to fuse (Fig. 1b),
until eventually all papillae are fused and connected by a
tough layer of thin tissue, which starts to overgrow the
substrate in an encrusting manner (β-stage) (Fig. 1c-d).
Due to its bright red-orange color and increasing
abundance, C. delitrix is one of the most conspicuous
excavating sponges on many coral reefs throughout the
Caribbean and Eastern and North Eastern coast of Brazil
(Chaves-Fonnegra et al. 2007; Rose and Risk 1985;
Ward-Paige et al. 2005; see map in Van Soest 2010 for
distribution range of C. delitrix). Interestingly, C. delitrix
is rather elusive on the fringing reefs of the Southern
Caribbean island of Curaçao, yet it is very prominent onCorrespondence: muellerb@ymail.com
Carmabi Foundation, Willemstad, Curaçao
© The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This artic
International License (http://creativecommons
reproduction in any medium, provided you g
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zethe neighboring island of Bonaire, merely 41 km off Cur-
açao (Mueller et al. 2014) (Fig. 2). Fringing reefs on both
islands are situated in the same physicochemical prov-
ince (Chollett et al. 2012) and are characterized by a
similar reef geomorphology with a narrow reef terrace
and steep reef slope (20–50°) (Van Duyl 1985), as well as
comparable reef community structures and reef health
conditions (Jackson et al. 2014; Sandin et al. 2008). Des-
pite the close proximity and similarities in environmental
conditions of these two islands, C. delitrix on Curaçao ap-
pears to solely display the α-stage, with mostly unfused
papillae, whereas large encrusting individuals occur com-
monly around Bonaire. It should be noted that the
exclusively-papillated excavating sponge Cliona laticavi-
cola (Pang 1973) (Hadromerida, Demospongiae) closely
resembles the α-stage of C. delitrix. However, genetic and
spicule analysis confirm that papillated specimen on
Curaçao are indeed C. delitrix (Chaves-Fonnegra et al.
2015). Moreover, due to the fact that both species were
described from the same reef on Jamaica (C. laticavi-
cola from shallow-rocky habitats and C. delitrix from
the reef slope), C. laticavicola has been proposed to be
an early life history stage or ecophenotype of C. delitrix
(Zea et al. 2014).
This study reports the first documentation of encrust-
ing specimen of C. delitrix from Curaçao and discussesle is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
ive appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
ro/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Fig. 1 Typical succession of growth phases in the excavating
sponge Cliona delitrix. a Discrete ostial and oscular papillae (α-stage).
b Papillae start quickly to fuse (α-stage transition to β-stage). c All
papillae are fused and connected by a tough layer of thin tissue
(β-stage). d Encrusting sponge continues to overgrow the substrate
(β-stage). Tissue often harbors a dense population of whitish
zoanthids at this stage. Pictures were taken on the fore reef slope of
Bonaire, Southern Caribbean, between 10 and 15 m depth
Mueller Marine Biodiversity Records  (2017) 10:10 Page 2 of 4potential explanations for island-specific differences in
its habitus and occurrence.
Material and methods
Two encrusting specimen of C. delitrix were photo-
graphed during a dive on November 3, 2016 in front of
the Sea Aquarium Park on Curaçao (12° 05’ N, 68° 53’
W). The site is characterized by a diverse coral commu-
nity with >30% live coral cover, high structural complex-
ity, and a steep fore reef slope (>50°) (Van Duyl 1985).
The coral community at the drop-off (approx. 8 m
depth) is dominated by Orbicella spp.
Results
Two encrusting specimen (β-stage) of C. delitrix were
recorded on a single colony of Orbicella faveolata
(formerly Montastraea faveolata) at 8 m depth (Fig. 3).
Both specimen were located in two separate areas of
partial coral-mortality and were surrounded by a band
of turf algae. No additional encrusting specimen of C.
delitrix were encountered in the vicinity during the
60 min dive.
Discussion
Cliona delitrix has been reported to occur on Curaçao
(Bruckner and Bruckner 2006; Chaves-Fonnegra et al.
2015; Van Soest 1981), yet large encrusting specimen
have not been recorded so far and were not encountered
in the coral reef monitoring program and/or other re-
search activities of the Carmabi Research Station (pers.
comm. M. Vermeij). While it cannot be excluded that
more C. delitrix displaying the β-stage exist or existed
on Curaçaoan reefs, it is safe to say that this habitus is
rare. This raises the question why encrusting C. delitrix
are not as abundant as on Bonaire, where such specimen
are commonly encountered and densities of 0.03 individ-
uals m−2 have been documented (Mueller et al. 2014)?
Possible explanations could include (1) differences in en-
vironmental conditions between the two islands and/or
(2) genetic differences between the local populations of
C. delitrix. However, environmental conditions including
geomorphology and community structure are very simi-
lar on both islands (Chollett et al. 2012; Sandin et al.
2008; Van Duyl 1985). Given the suggested positive
effect of anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. organic
Fig. 3 Photographs of two encrusting specimen of Cliona delitrix
growing on one single colony of Orbicella faveolata on Curaçao,
Southern Caribbean. a Overview of the two specimen in two
separate areas of partial coral-mortality and were surrounded by a
band of turf algae. b Close-up of the larger specimen
Curaçao
Bonaire
10 km
69˚00’ W 68˚30’ W
12˚00’ N
current direction
Fig. 2 Map of the Southern Caribbean islands of Curaçao and Bonaire. Red circle indicates the position of the observed encrusting specimen of
Cliona delitrix in front of the Sea Aquarium Park on Curaçao. Predominant current direction of the Caribbean Current is indicated with an arrow
Mueller Marine Biodiversity Records  (2017) 10:10 Page 3 of 4pollution) on the abundance of C. delitrix (Chaves-Fon-
negra et al. 2007; Rose and Risk 1985; Ward-Paige et al.
2005), a more than five times higher human population
density (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek 2016; Central
Bureau of Statistics Curaçao 2016), more industrial de-
velopment, and a less restrictive marine resource man-
agement policy would rather suggest more favorable
conditions on Curaçao than on Bonaire. Slightly higher
dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and bacterial concen-
trations (Mueller et al. 2014) further suggest that food
limitation is not a likely cause for the lower prevalence
of C. delitrix on Curaçaoan reefs. Moreover, a planktonic
larval period between 1 and 10 days (Mariani et al. 2006;
Warburton 1958) in combination with the strong Carib-
bean Currents have been proposed to enable gene flow
between populations of Cliona delitrix of up to 500 km
across the Southern Caribbean (Chaves-Fonnegra et al.
2015). It is therefore highly likely that the Caribbean
Currents flowing from Bonaire to Curaçao with up to
70 cm s−2 (Fratantoni 2001) (Fig. 2), should allow for a
good connectivity between C. delitrix populations of
both islands (Chaves-Fonnegra et al. 2015), as reported
for local coral populations (e.g. Baums et al. 2005;
Baums et al. 2006). Thus, as larvae of encrusting speci-
men of C. delitrix from Bonaire can be expected to seed
Curaçaoan reefs, genetic differences are unlikely to be
the reason for the lack of specimen displaying the β-
stage on Curaçao.
In addition, C. delitrix is reported to spread particu-
larly in the aftermath of catastrophic episodical dis-
turbances, such as hurricanes and bleaching events,
where recently deceased coral are rapidly colonized
Mueller Marine Biodiversity Records  (2017) 10:10 Page 4 of 4(Chaves-Fonnegra et al. 2015; Chaves-Fonnegra and
Zea 2011). In general, Curaçao has not been as
strongly affected by bleaching events as other places
in the Caribbean. However, during the 2010 bleaching
event 12–30% of all coral colonies were affected and
on average 10% of those subsequently died (Vermeij
2012). Despite this substantial opening of suitable
substrate, no encrusting specimen of C. delitrix were
recorded until now. This raises the question if the
here reported occurrence constitutes an isolated event
or marks the onset of an ongoing trend? Given the-
fierce competitiveness of Cliona delitrix, its capability
to kill live coral, as well as its high excavation rate,
this could potentially have profound consequences for
Curaçaoan benthic communities and their calcium
carbonate budgets and should therefore be monitored
closely.
Acknowledgements
I thank the staff of Carmabi for their logistic support. Fieldwork was performed
under the research permit (#2012/48584) issued by the Curaçaoan Ministry of
Health, Environment and Nature (GMN) to the CARMABI Foundation.
Funding
The author declares that there was no funding received for this study.
Availability of data and materials
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this
published article.
Author’s contributions
BM conceived and performed the experiment, analyzed the data, and wrote
the manuscript.
Competing interests
The author declares that he has no competing interests.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affiliations.
Received: 23 December 2016 Accepted: 7 March 2017
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