Full Length Research Paper

Larvicidal and insecticidal properties of some marine sponges collected in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar waters

J. Venkateswara Rao¹*, P. K. Usman¹ and J. Bharat Kumar²

¹Toxicology Unit, Biology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad-500 007, India

²Bharat Institute of Engineering and Technology, Mangalpally, Ibrahimpatnam, Hyderabad- 501 510, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: jv@iict.res.in or jv@india.com. Tel.: Office: +91 (40) 2719 3191; Resident: +91 (40) 2720 5440; Fax: +91 (40) 2719 3227.

Accepted 16 October, 2007

Among marine invertebrates, sponges are one of the most productive marine ecosystems, with regard to presence of novel bio-active compounds. Few sponges (n = 18) were collected from Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar waters of India and their methanol and dichloromethane (1:1) extracts were screened for larvicidal and insecticidal properties. Among them, around 40% of test extracts were active against the fourth-instar larvae of Aedes aegypti (Linn) and three to four day old of female houseflies, Musca domestica (Linn) at the concentrations of less than 100 ppm and 100 µg/insect respectively. Among the sponges Psammaplysilla purpurea and Haliclona cribricutis were found to be more active with both larvicidal and insecticidal properties. Considering both these activities, the following sponges Psammaplysilla purpurea, Haliclona cribricutis, Dendrilla nigra, Haliclona pigmentifera and Petrosia testudinaria could be used to obtain novel pesticidal molecules.

Key words:  Marine Sponges, Biological screening, Aedes aegypti, Musca domestica, India.