User talk:Annsli.Hilton/Spongilla

Overall great job on your article so far. You did a great job with adding more to the lead and describing the body form and the symbioses commonly found with the genus Spongilla. I do suggest adding a Wikipedia hyperlink to zoochlorellae. The reproduction section was good. I suggest you switch the hermaphrodite paragraph and the gemmule paragraph for better flow. In regards to the gemmules section, I think you go a little more depth about the functionality and biogeographical aspects. You can use Porifera Research Biodiversity, Innovation and Sustainability in the chapter about Gemmules as a key structure for the adaptive radiation of freshwater sponges: a morphofunctional and biogeographical study, here's the for it: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257954142_Porifera_Research_Biodiversity_Innovation_and_Sustainability. You should also try to get into the ecological impacts that Spongilla have on the ecosystem. (SimsBiologist45 (talk) 03:56, 20 October 2021 (UTC))

Dr. White's critique of your first draft

Spongilla is a genus of freshwater sponges with over 200 different species. Spongilla was first publicly recognized in 1696 by leonard Plukenet and can be found in lakes, ponds and slow streams.[1] Spongilla have a leuconoid body form with a skeleton composed of siliceous spicules and are sessile organisms, attaching themselves to hard substrate like rocks, logs and sometimes to ground.[2] Using their ostia and osculum these sponges filter the water for various small aquatic organisms such as protozoans, bacteria, and other free-floating pond life.[3] Sponges of the genus Spongilla partake in symbiotic relationships with green algae, zoochlorellae. The symbiotic zoochlorellae give the sponges a green appearance, without them they would appear white[3]. Reproduction Unlike marine sponges, freshwater sponges are exposed to far more adverse and variable environmental conditions, so they have developed gemmules as a means of dormancy. When exposed to excessively cold or otherwise harsh situations, the sponges form these gemmules, which are highly resistant "buds" that can live dormant after the mother sponge has died. When conditions improve, the gemmules "germinate" and a new sponge is born. Sponges are hermaphroditic organisms, producing both egg and sperm. Sperm is released from one sponge and brought in through the ostia of another sponge. Once the sperm reaches the body cavity it is fertilized and develops into a free-swimming larvae. The free-swimming larvae is released out the osculum and will eventually settle and attach elsewhere.[4] Because the larvae are developed inside the spongilla it is viviparous.

References Your references are formatted incorrectly. The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology. 7. London,: Taylor and Francis, Ltd. 1881.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) Brusca, Richard (2016). Invertebrates third edition. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates. p. 222. ISBN 9781605353753. Skelton, James; Strand, Mac. "Trophic ecology of a freshwater sponge ( Spongilla lacustris) revealed by stable isotope analysis". Hydrobiologia. 709 (1): 227–235. doi:10.1007/s10750-013-1452-6 – via ECBHost. Baldacconi, R.; Nonnis-Marzano, C.; Gaino, E.; Corriero, G. (2007-09-15). "Sexual reproduction, larval development and release in Spongia officinalis L. (Porifera, Demospongiae) from the Apulian coast". Marine Biology. 152 (4): 969–979. doi:10.1007/s00227-007-0747-4.

Overall you did a great job. Some of the sentences need some reworking for a smoother read, but you added a lot of great information. Instead of rewriting the current article, you should add to it. Nice addition of an image and GREAT job with in text citations and links. Your peer reviews have some good suggestions to follow as well. Whiteamphipod (talk) 16:14, 22 October 2021 (UTC)