Between two sponge specimens (Porifera: Demosponge: Axinella) with pharmacologically active compounds from the South China Sea

The Phylum Porifera is an economically important group of marine animals. Considerable research and development has been done for the purpose of discovery and sustainable supply of pharmaceutical products from sponges. Although an important resource for natural products,the taxonomic position of many sponges still lacks clarification. Two alkaloids debromohymenialdisine (DBH) and hymenialdisine (HD) with pharmacological activities have been isolated for treating Alzheimer disease from two common yellow sponges from the South China Sea. Although the external morphologies of these sponges are different, they were both classified into the genus Axinella on the basis of morphological characters such as skeleton architecture, spicules, and cell types. Molecular approaches of gene sequence analysis (Cytochrome C oxidase COI, 18S ribosomal RNA ,18S rRNA) demonstrate that both morphotypes are identical species.