Haliclona (Gellius) cf. cucurbitiformis ( Kirkpatrick, 1907 )

Schejter, Laura, Cristobo, Javier & Ríos, Pilar, 2024, New records of demosponges (Porifera) from the South Orkney Islands (Antarctica) with a checklist for the region, Zootaxa 5403 (4), pp. 401-430 : 423

Haliclona (Gellius) cf. cucurbitiformis ( Kirkpatrick, 1907)

( Figure 11j–p )

Restricted synonymy: Gellius cucurbitiformis Kirkpatrick, 1907 , Adocia cucurbitiformis ( Kirkpatrick, 1907) .

Material examined: 1 specimen collected at station 1 ( SOI; 60°28'S, 46°29'W; 139 m; 19/2/2014; MACN-In 44364; IEO-CSIC Col.) .

Description: The specimen is massive, friable, beige, with an irregular surface ( Figure 11j ). The skeleton consisted of axial parallel ascending fibres interconnected by secondary fibres or spicules in a subquadrangular mesh, ( Figure 11m –p ). The ectosome is a detachable crust, evident in several parts of our specimen. Spicules are oxeas 330–400 µm by 10 µm and sparse thin C-sigmata of 30–40 µm by 1–2 µm ( Figure 11k–l ).

Remarks: This is an uncommon species, only recorded by Kirkpatrick (1907), Desqueyroux (1975), Vacelet & Arnaud (1972) and Burton (1932) (this last publication with no description). The studied specimen presented oxeas and sigmas in a similar size range to those described by Kirkpatrick (1907) and Desqueyroux (1975), but the general morphology of the specimen is massive and different from those previously described. In this sense, we prefer to keep the “cf.” (conferre). The specimens described by Vacelet & Arnaud (1972) presented a larger size of spicules than the present specimen.

Figures

FIGURE 11. a–f. Haliclona spongiosissima. a. general morphology, scale: 3 cm; b. oxea, scale: 55 µm, c. detail of the oscula and the screened surface in a fresh specimen, scale: 1mm, d. detail of the screened surface in a dried specimen, scale: 1mm, e–f. choanosomal skeleton, detail of the spicule’s arrangements, scale: 200 µm; g–i. H. (Gellius) rudis, g. general morphology, scale: 2 cm, h. sigma, scale: 35 µm, i. oxea, scale: 160 µm; j–p. H. (G.) cf. cucurbitiformis, j. general morphology, scale: 3 cm, k. oxea, scale: 100 µm, l. sigmas, scale: 30 µm, m. macroscopic view of the choanosomal skeleton, scale: 1 mm, n. macroscopic view of the surface and the ectosome, scale: 1 mm, o. microscopic view of the spicule arrangement in the choanosomal skeleton, scale: 200 µm, p. detail of the choanosomal skeleton, scale: 200 µm.