About the Authors
- Robert W. Thacker
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* E-mail: thacker@uab.edu
Affiliation Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
- M. Cristina Díaz
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Affiliation Museo Marino de Margarita, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela
- Nicole J. de Voogd
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Affiliation Naturalis, National Museum of Natural History, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Rob W. M. van Soest
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Affiliation Zoological Museum of the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Christopher J. Freeman
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Affiliation Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
- Andrew S. Mobley
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Affiliation Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
- Jessica LaPietra
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Affiliation Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
- Kevin Cope
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Affiliation Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
- Sheila McKenna
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Affiliations Deep Search Foundation, Alameda, California, United States of America, Ecology Centre and Commonwealth Facility for Applied Environmental Decision Analysis, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Competing Interests
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: RT SM. Performed the experiments: RT. Analyzed the data: RT. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RT MCD CJF. Wrote the paper: RT NJdV RWMvS CJF ASM JL KC SM. Completed the field survey: RT. Completed histology and microscopy to identify specimens: RT NJdV RWMvS CJF ASM JL KC. Confirmed sponge identifications: MCD. Identified historical specimens: NJdV RWMvS. Assisted with field surveys: SM.