Citizen Monitoring Research: Freshwater Sponge References

The following technical references provide additional information on freshwater sponges. You can usually obtain these documents from public or university libraries directly or through interlibrary loan services.

Wisconsin’s Sponge Fauna

Jewell, M.E. 1935. An ecological study of the fresh-water sponges of northern Wisconsin. Ecological Monographs 5:461-504.

Neidhoefer, J.R. 1938. Carterius tenosperma (Potts), a species of fresh-water sponge new to Wisconsin. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 57(1):82-84.

Jewell, M.E. 1939. An ecological study of the fresh-water sponges of Wisconsin, II. The influence of calcium. Ecology 20:11-28.

Neidhoefer, J.R. 1940. The fresh-water sponges of Wisconsin. Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters 32:177-197.

Jewell, M.E. 1939. An ecological study of the fresh-water sponges of Wisconsin, II. The influence of calcium. Ecology 20:11-28.

Colby, A.C.C., T.M. Frost, and J.M. Fischer. 1999. Sponge distribution and lake chemistry in northern Wisconsin lakes: Minna Jewell’s survey revisited. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 44:93-99.

Identification and Distribution

Frost, T.M., H.R. Reiswig, and A. Ricciardi. 2001. Porifera. Pp. 97-133 In J.H. Thorp and A.P. Covich (eds.). Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates, 2nd ed. Academic Press, New York.

Smith, D. G. 2001. Pennak’s freshwater invertebrates of the United States: Porifera to Crustacea. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 638 pp.

Penney, J.T. and A.A. Racek. 1968. Comprehensive revision of a worldwide collection of freshwater sponges (Porifera: Spongillidae). U.S. National Museum Bulletin 272:1-184.

Lauer, T.E., A. Spacie, and D.K. Barnes. 2001. The distribution and habitat preferences of freshwater sponges (Porifera) in four southern Lake Michigan harbors. American Midland Naturalist 146:243-253.

Several of the references listed above under the “Wisconsin’s Sponge Fauna” heading also contain information helpful for identifying species that occur in Wisconsin. In many cases, however, the scientific names of sponges have changed in the years since publication.

The Sponge Fauna of Nearby Areas

Catalog of North American State and Regional Freshwater Sponge References [PDF, 223KB]

Lauer, T.E. and A. Spacie. 1996. New records of freshwater sponges (Porifera) for southern Lake Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 22:77-82. (Illinois)

Lauer, T.E., A. Spacie, and D.K. Barnes. 2001. The distribution and habitat preferences of freshwater sponges (Porifera) in four southern Lake Michigan harbors. American Midland Naturalist 146:243-253. (Illinois, Michigan)

Old, M.C. 1932. Taxonomy and distribution of the fresh-water sponges (Spongillidae) of Michigan. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters 15:439-477. (Michigan)

Smith, F. 1921. Data on the distribution of Michigan fresh-water sponges. Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters 1:418-421. (Michigan)

Sponge Biology

Harrison, F.W. 1974. Sponges (Porifera: Spongillidae). Pp. 29-66 In C.W. Hart, Jr. and S.L.H. Fuller (eds). Pollution Ecology of Freshwater Invertebrates. Academic Press, New York.

Rützler, K. (ed). 1990. New Perspectives in Sponge Biology. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.

Related Sites

Citizen Lake Monitoring Network [exit DNR]

World Porifera Database [exit DNR]

“An Unexpected Encounter” article in Lake Tides newsletter [exit DNR]