Bangkok urban census of aquatic invertebrate fauna by an integrative taxonomic approach: the case of Suan Luang Rama IX Park and its freshwater sponges (Spongillida: Spongillidae)

Faunistic investigations on freshwater bodies of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area resulted in the discovery of a freshwater sponges population fragmented in lentic microhabitats at the Suan Luang Rama IX Park. Sponges inhabited small water bodies of. Sponges living the lotus and waterlily garden and tropical greenhouse were photographed in situ, and some representative, small samples were collected and stored at the Division of Biology (Porifera collection), Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep, Bangkok, Thailand. The taxonomic integrative analyses focused on diagnostic morphotraits, barcoding, and biogeography. The sponge population was ascribed to Radiospongilla cf. cerebellata (Porifera: Demospongiae: Spongillida: Spongillidae) and is a new record for the Bangkok area and the entire Thai inland water. Comparative integrative analyses vs spongillid taxa worldwide resulted in the discovery of new morphotraits for the genus. Radiospongilla cf. cerebellata was confirmed by molecular analyses and diverges from other congeneric species at the level of skeletal spicules and gemmular architecture. This investigation on aquatic fauna highlights that flourishing sponges are able to inhabit very confined and fragmented urban, shallow water bodies, i.e., scattered terracotta pots, plastic containers and small ponds with aquatic plants also in megalopolis gardens.