Field collection bags or bottles
Razor blades (for scraping sponge off of rocks if necessary)
Cooler with ice packs (for transporting sponge tissue to lab)
Petri dishes or finger bowls
Modified Bold 3N Medium (UTEX)
Bold Modified Basal Freshwater Nutrient Solution (Sigma Life Science)
Microcentrifuge tubes (sterile)
Mini-microfuge (tap spinner)
Sterile growth flasks and glass culture vials
Fluorescent grow lights or growth chamber with lights
Modified Bold 3N Medium agar plates (15 g agar/Liter of media)
Dissecting and light microscope
Spectrophotomer (e.g., Spec 200)
Strekal TA, McDiffett W. 1974. Factors affecting germination, growth, and distribution of the freshwater sponge, Spongilla fragilis Leidy (Porifera). Biological Bulletin 146:267-278.
For M-medium see Rasmont R. 1961. Une technique de culture des éponges d'eau douce en milieu contrôlé. Annales de la Société Royale Zoologique de Belgique 91:147-156.
We use 1 mM CaCl2·H2O, 0.5 mM MgSO4·7H2O, 0.5 mM NaHCO3, 0.05 mM KCl, 0.25 mM Na2SiO3·9H2O.
We generally make up the Strekal's or M-medium as a 5X or 10x stock. When diluted to 1X the pH should be around 7.2.