Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Images of Sponge Spicules from Anoxycalyx (Scolymastra) joubini (Topsent, 1916) in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica

DOI

This dataset contains scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of sponge spicules from two individuals of the glass sponge Anoxycalyx (Scolymastra) joubini (Topsent, 1916), collected in McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica. The sponge samples were obtained by scientific divers during the SpongeScan expedition in October and November 2024 to support morphological characterization and taxonomic classification of the species. To ensure representative sampling, each approximately 70 cm high sponge was biopsied at five different heights using a metal coring tube. The collected tissue samples were immediately flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen. In the laboratory, aprox. 1cm3 thawed tissue was treated with sodium hypochlorite (10%) at room temperature to dissolve organic material while leaving behind the siliceous spicules. The latter were then washed multiple times with distilled water until neutral pH was reached, followed by a graded ethanol dehydration series (30%, 50%, 70%, 90%, and 100%). After final ethanol washes, the spicules were transferred onto SEM object holders with carbon adhesive, dried at 50 °C, and sputter-coated with gold. Prior to SEM imaging, light microscopy was used to verify the absence of organic residues. The dataset provides high-resolution microstructural data, contributing to the understanding of A. joubini spicule morphology and its taxonomic implications.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.979762
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.979762
Provenance
Creator Schmider-Martínez, Andreas; Laudien, Jürgen ORCID logo; Hawes, Ian ORCID logo; Wurz, Erik ORCID logo; Rowe, Katherine; Budd, Rod; Hanz, Ulrike ORCID logo; Richter, Claudio ORCID logo
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2025
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; Data access is restricted (moratorium, sensitive data, license constraints); https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess false
Representation
Resource Type Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 44 data points
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (166.637 LON, -77.842 LAT); McMurdo Sound