EXPLORING SPONGE-INHABITING BARNACLES OF EASTERN INDONESIA USING MICRO-CT SCANNING

Abstrak

We present a morphological study of Indonesian sponge-inhabiting barnacles using standard light microscopy in combination with micro-CT scanning and computer-aided 3D-reconstruction of the external shell morphology. A taxonomic analysis of the material detected four different genera of sponges inhabited by five different species of balanomorph barnacles, two of which are undescribed. Together with conventional morphological examination by dissection, we provide modern non-destructive imaging methods, using micro-CT scanning to enhance our knowledge of the morphological characters of sponge-inhabiting barnacles from eastern Indonesia. Although there were some methodological limitations regarding the contrast-enhancing technique, this study demonstrates micro-CT as a useful non-destructive technique of integrative taxonomy, for the examination of sponge-inhabiting barnacles.