The Indo-Pacific is the largest marine biogeographical region on Earth and a global center of marine biodiversity. Nevertheless, there are gaps remaining in our understanding of the diversity, distribution, and endemism of many animal groups in this vast area, especially in relation to sponges. This knowledge is crucial, however, to our ability to record and evaluate changes in biodiversity over the long term. By means of genetic analyses, a team led by LMU geobiologist Professor Gert Wörheide has now demonstrated that there are an unusually large number of endemic species of sponge that occur only in a certain region of the Indo-Pacific.
Original Article: Sponges in the Indo-Pacific: a hotspot of endemism
