Abstract

The marine sponges of the genus Oceanapia sp. is comprised of more than 50 species and are distributed in the seas around the tropical and subtropical regions. They are mainly found in the northern Indian oceans, Japan, and the south pacific coast. They are highly colored and known to be a rich source of various secondary metabolites, particularly alkaloids. Several other secondary metabolites are also reported from this genus which include terpenes, sphingolipids, ceramides, cerebrosides, acetylenic acids, and thiocyanatins, etc. Many of these compounds isolated from this genus exhibited various biological properties, including anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-HIV, ichthyotoxicity, and nematocidal activities. Although several secondary metabolites have been reported from this genus, a dedicated review of the chemicals and biological activities of this genus is so far lacking. Keeping this in mind, this review describes the various chemical entities isolated from the sponges of the genus Oceanapia, providing details of their chemical structures along with their reported biological properties

Keywords: Marine sponges, alkaloids, Oceanapia sp., biological activity, ceramides, sphingolipids, acetylenic acids