Preliminary studies on the growth in captivity of Spirastrella inconstans (Dendy) collected from the intertidal region of Palk Bay, south-east coast of India

Abstract

Marine sponges are rich sources of bioactive metabolites that can be used as lead compounds to treat various diseases. Although concerted efforts resulted in the development of many new bioactive compounds from marine sponges, only very few compounds have reached the clinical trial stage. One of the reasons for this, as cited by many workers is that many of the sponge bioactive metabolites are highly toxic, thus leading to a low therapeutic index. However, the second major reason is the ‘supply problem’. Collection of large quantities of sponge biomass from the wild becomes a pre-requisite for obtaining sufficient amounts of metabolites from natural populations. Consequently, the natural populations may not be able to sustain such heavy exploitation.