Clathrina undetermined

Azevedo, Fernanda, Cóndor-Luján, Báslavi, Willenz, Philippe, Hajdu, Eduardo, Hooker, Yuri & Klautau, Michelle, 2015, Integrative taxonomy of calcareous sponges (subclass Calcinea) from the Peruvian coast: morphology, molecules, and biogeography, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173 (4), pp. 787-817 : 800-802

CLATHRINA APHRODITA SP. NOV. ( FIG. 6 ; TABLE 6)

Type material: Holotype (ethanol). MNRJ 13021 – fragments from the holotype: RBINSc-IG 32241-POR 13021, CZA 13021, and MHNG 85809 . Paratypes (ethanol). MNRJ 11440 – fragments from the paratype: RBINSc- IG 32239-POR 11440, CZA 11440, and MHNG 85440 , MNRJ 12977 – fragments from the paratype: RBINSc- IG 32241-POR 12977, CZA 12977, and MHNG 85766 , MNRJ 13022 – fragments from the paratype: RBINSc- IG 32241-POR 13022, CZA 13022, and MHNG 85810 .

Material examined: Nine specimens. MNRJ 11440 ; El Ñuro site 6, south of Quebrada Verde , Piura Region (04°13′30.40′′S, 81°12′31.60′′W); collected by Y. Hooker and M. Rios; 1 m depth; 14.x.2007 . MNRJ 11476 (fragments: RBINSc-IG 32239-POR 11476, CZA 11476, and MHNG 85472 ); Rocas La Chavelera, Cancas , Tumbes Region (03°55′14.10′′S, 80°54′29.90′′W); collected by Y. Hooker and M. Rios; 9 m depth; 17.x.2007 . MNRJ 11486 (fragments: RBINSc-IG 32239-POR 11486, CZA 11486, and MHNG 85482 ); Cancas , Tumbes Region (03°56′31.70′′S, 80°56′37.60′′W); collected by Y. Hooker, 11 m depth, 17.x.2007 . MNRJ 12974 (fragments: RBINSc-IG 32239-POR 12974, CZA 12974, and MHNG 85763 ); Baja El Burro, Punta Sal , Tumbes Region (03°58′34.10′′S, 80°59′06.00′′W); collected by Y. Hooker, B. Ibañez, and Ph. Willenz; 13–19 m depth; 21.xi.2009 . MNRJ 12994 (fragments: RBINSc-IG 32241-POR 12994, CZA 12994, and MHNG 85783 ) , MNRJ 12977 ; El Ñuro site 7, south of Quebrada Verde , Piura Region (04°14′01.00′′S, 81°12′46.00′′W); collected by Y. Hooker, F. Menendez, and Ph. Willenz; 5 m depth; 19.xi.2009 . MNRJ 13021 , MNRJ 13022 ; Punta Sal , Tumbes Region. (03°58′52.90′′S, 80°59′20.60′′W); collected by Y. Hooker and Ph. Willenz; 15 m depth; 23.xi.2009 . MNRJ 14180 (fragment: RBINSc-IG 32241- POR 14180); in front of Punta Sal , Tumbes Region (03°56′42.54′′S, 80°56′44.70′′W); collected by W. Viera; 12 m depth; 08.xii.2009 .

Type locality: Cancas , Tumbes Region, Peru .

Colour: Translucent beige or light pink (reproducing specimen) in life, and dirty beige or grey in ethanol.

Etymology: Refers to the beauty of this sponge.

Description: Massive sponge with subspherical shape (2.5 × 2.0 × 1.0 cm) ( Fig. 6A, C, D ). Consistency is friable and compressive. Cormus is formed by irregular and frequently tightly anastomosed tubes (0.2−0.5 mm), although loosely anastomosed tubes were also observed in a few specimens. Several conspicuous oscula were present at the surface. Water-collecting tubes and granular cells were not observed. Aquiferous system is asconoid.

Skeleton: Without any special organization and composed of regular and subregular triactines ( Fig. 6F ).

Spicules ( Table 6):

1. Triactines: Regular (equiangular and equiradiate) or subregular (equiangular with two or three actines of different sizes). Actines are conical or slightly conical, and straight with blunt tips ( Fig. 6G–I ).

Reproduction: One specimen, with a pink colour, was filled with oocytes ( MNRJ 13022, in November 2009) individually packed inside hexagonal follicles ( Fig. 6E ). Two other specimens ( MNRJ 12977 and 13021, both collected in November 2009) were white in colour, with abundant spherical buds at the surface of the external tubes ( Fig. 6B ). Asexual reproduction by budding in Calcinea has only been reported by Johnson (1978) for specimens identified as Clathrina blanca ( Miklucho-Maclay, 1868) . The budding process begins with the constriction of tubes localized at the surface of the sponge (reviewed in Ereskovsky, 2010).

Ecology: Lives in habitats with moderate amounts of sediment, although there was no evidence of sediment amongst the tubes of the cormus. Some individuals were found under boulders protected from sunlight, whereas others, encrusting the substrate, were exposed to light. Specimens were found near colonial organisms such as ascidians, bryozoans, and zoanthids, as well as some algae (red dichotomic and calcareous) and demosponges ( Chalinidae ). A polychaete and some bivalve eggs were found associated with the tubes of the specimens MNRJ 11476 and MNRJ 12994, respectively. Known bathymetric distribution extends from 1 to 19 m depth.

Geographical distribution: North coast of Peru, in Tumbes (3°S) and Piura (4°S) regions ( Fig. 6J ) .

Remarks: The genus Clathrina was recently redefined ( Klautau et al., 2013) and now comprises 31 species. Amongst these species, Clathrina cribrata Rapp, Klautau & Valentine, 2001 ( Norway) is the one that most resembles Clathrina aphrodita sp. nov., in the presence of numerous and conspicuous oscula at its surface. However, the oscula of C. cribrata has a sieve, which is not found in C. aphrodita sp. nov. In addition, the skeleton of C. cribrata is exclusively composed of regular triactines, whereas C. aphrodita sp. nov. has conspicuous and abundant subregular triactines, which have two or three actines of different lengths.

Figures

Figure 6. Clathrina aphrodita sp. nov. (Holotype – MNRJ 13021). A, live specimen; B, detail of spherical buds at the sponge surface; C, specimen in ethanol; D, cormus anastomosis (cross section); E, detail of oocytes inside hexagonal follicles in the cormus; F, spicules in the wall of a tube (tangential section); G-H subregular, slightly conical, triactines; I, regular, conical, triactine; J, distribution map along the Peruvian coast.