During R/V Sonne cruise SO254 around New Zealand (January-February 2017), deep-sea sponges were incubated in-situ and ex-situ to measure oxygen consumption, inorganic nutrient fluxes, bacterial and phospholipid-derived fatty acid (PLFA) composition. The biogeochemical composition of 4 shallow-water and deep-water sponge species were determined after the cruise by measuring the organic and total carbon and nitrogen content of freeze-dried sponge tissue and the stable isotopic composition (δ13C, δ15N) of the tissue. Phospholipid-derived fatty acids (PLFAs) of freeze-dried sponge tissue were extracted using a modified Bligh-Dyer extraction protocol and subsequently the PLFA concentrations were measured using gas chromatography flame ionization detection (GC-FID).

Phospholipid fatty acids: µg C-PLFA g-1 DM spongeω? means that it was not investigated exactly where double bonds exist.