Two new sponge species unique to the southern Western Australian coast have been given species names to honour the Nyoongar peoples as traditional owners of that land.

Haliclona durdong and Haliclona djeedara are endemic to the WA coastline, occurring in temperate rocky reef habitats and shallow waters from Jurien Bay to Bremer Bay, and are found nowhere else in the world.

To emphasise the narrow geographic distribution of these sponges and to acknowledge the Nyoongar peoples as the traditional owners of southern Western Australia in which these sponges are found, the Nyoongar names describe the living colours of these species; durdong meaning green and djeedara meaning brown.

Head of the Western Australian Museum’s Aquatic Zoology Department, Dr Jane Fromont, and Department of Fisheries Research Scientist Dr Dave Abdo co-authored the scientific paper describing the two new species of sponges in the international journal Zootaxa.

“We were delighted to be able to give these new species Nyoongar names in recognition of the Aboriginal people on whose country we were able to undertake this research and make this amazing discovery,” said Dr Fromont.

“We worked closely with the Western Australian Museum’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee to develop these unique species names; I’d like to thank the Committee for the support and guidance they provided to help us achieve this outcome.”

Research on these species formed part of Dr Abdo’s PhD project.

"In the late 1980s a single sample of a green sponge collected from Rottnest Island attracted immense scientific interest due to the unique and potent anti-tumour compound it contains called salicylihalamide A,” said Dr Abdo.

“Our study has described the sponge and named it as Haliclona durdong, which is a great step forward in our knowledge and understanding of the ecology and chemistry of this species.”

Scientific research using salicylihalamide A is ongoing, in particular investigations into its uses relating to health issues such as osteoporosis, renal disease, HIV infection, and tumour metastasis.

Both Haliclona durdong and Haliclona djeedara have been found to play an important role in supporting the immense biodiversity of the coastal waters of our south west marine environment by acting as ‘living hotels’ for numerous other organisms like crustaceans, molluscs and fish.

 

Jane Rosevear
Media and Publicity Officer
Western Australian Museum
(08) 6552 7805
jane.rosevear@museum.wa.gov.au