Structural studies on Demospongiae sponges from Gokceada Island in the Northern Aegean Sea

The Demospongiae is the largest Class in the phylum Porifera (sponges). Most sponge species in. the Class Demospongiae have a skeleton of siliceous spicules and/or protein spongin or both. The first aim of this study was to perform the morphological and structural characterization of the siliceous spicules of four species belonging to Class Demospongiae (Suberites domuncula, Axinella polypoides, Axinella damicornis and Agelas oroides) collected around Gokceada Island-Turkey (Northern Aegean Sea). The characterizations were carried out using a combination of Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) techniques.