The marine sponge Chondrilla nucula Schmidt, 1862 as an elective candidate for bioremediation in integrated aquaculture

The use of sponges for marine bioremediation in a farming scenario has been investigated focusing on Chondrilla nucula. We report experiments examining clearance and retention rates of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Despite low values expressed for clearance tests, C. nucula exhibited a marked ability to retain high quantities of bacteria. One square meter patch of this sponge can filter up to 14 l/h of sea water retaining up to 70 x/1010 bacterial cells/h. This suggests that C. nucula is a suitable species for marine environmental bioremediation.