AnAge entry for Scolymastra joubini

Classification (HAGRID: 04239)

Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Porifera
        Class: Hexactinellida
            Order: Lyssacinosida
                Family: Rossellidae
                    Genus: Scolymastra
Species: Scolymastra joubini
Common name: Hexactinellid sponge

Maximum longevity: 15,000 years (wild)
Source: ref. 688
Sample size: Medium
Data quality: Questionable
Observations: Animals of this and similar species of Antarctic sponges grow extremely slowly in the low temperatures. Estimates based on growth rates suggest a very long lifespan in this and similar animals. One two meter high specimen in the Ross Sea was estimated to be 23,000 years old, though because of sea level fluctuations in the Ross Sea it is unlikely that such an animal could have lived for more than 15,000 years [0688]. Even if 15,000 years is an overestimate, which may well be the case, this specimen appears to be the longest-lived animal on earth.

: No information is available on life history. Please contact us if you wish to suggest or contribute data.

No information on metabolism is available.

[0688] Susanne Gatti (2002), The role of sponges in high-Antarctic carbon and silicon cycling: a modelling approach