Transcriptomic analysis of sponges that have been exposed to different environmental conditions can improve our understanding of molecular stress response pathways and enhance our ability to effectively manage these ecologically important filter feeders. Two common and widely distributed Indo-Pacific sponge species—Carteriospongia foliascens and Cliona orientalis were collected in May 2015 from Fantome Island and Pelorus Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Since C. orientalis is a bio-eroding sponge, ten C. orientalis drill cores (* 5cmin diameter) were collected from a single individual growing on a dead colony of Porites sp. An individual of C.foliascens was cut into ten pieces (see Pineda et al. 2016). Sponges were healed and acclimated under natural light and flowthrough seawater for 4 weeks before experiments were performed. Sponges were subjected to five different treatments at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) National Sea Simulator: (i) decreased salinity, (ii) elevated temperature, (iii) elevated suspended sediment concentrations(SSCs) and sediment deposition, (iv) light attenuation, and(v) no stress control. Further details on these experiments can be found in Pineda et al. (2016). Transcriptome sequences were assembled for C. foliascens and C. ori-entalis and from the C. orientalis holobiont, i.e., host and symbiont, a partial reference transcriptome for Gerakladium endoclionum was constructed. Further details are found in the linked paper below Strehlow et al. (2021).

The activity of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (AARS), an index of growth rate, and of the electron transport system (ETS), an index of respiration, was measured in three size fractions (73-150 µm, >150 µm and >350 µm) of zooplankton during five cruises to tropical coastal waters of the Kimberley coast (North West Australia) and four cruises to waters of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR, North East Australia). Temperature, salinity and chlorophyll a data was also recorded. Data enables comparison of growth and secondary production of tropical zooplankton from waters of NW and NE Australia based on both AARS and ETS measurements, and also facilitates comparison of zooplankton respiration derived from ETS measurements. These estimates of growth and respiration enable calculation of grazing rates to better understand the fate of primary production in Australian tropical waters and the nature of pelagic food chains in these regions.