Clathrina conifera Klautau & Borojević, 2001

Klautau, Michelle, Imešek, Mirna, Azevedo, Fernanda, Pleše, Bruna, Nikolić, Vedran & Ćetković, Helena, 2016, Adriatic calcarean sponges (Porifera, Calcarea), with the description of six new species and a richness analysis, European Journal of Taxonomy 178, pp. 1-52 : 16-18

Clathrina conifera Klautau & Borojević, 2001

Fig. 6 ; Table 6

Clathrina conifera Klautau & Borojević, 2001: 404 .

Clathrina primordialis (non C. primordialis ( Haeckel, 1872)) – Borojević 1971: 527. — Borojević & Peixinho 1976: 992. — Mothes de Moraes 1985: 228. — Klautau et al. 1994: 372. — Muricy & Silva 1999: 160.

Clathrina conifera – Klautau & Valentine 2003: 18 . — Monteiro & Muricy 2004: 682. — Muricy & Hajdu 2006: 86. — Lanna et al. 2007: 1554. — Custódio & Hajdu 2011: 4. — Muricy et al. 2011: 33. — Bouzon et al. 2012: 42.

Material examined

Holotype

BRAZIL: Arraial do Cabo , Rio de Janeiro ( BMNH 1999.9 .16.19, in ethanol).

Other material

ADRIATIC SEA: near the Island of Lokrum, 42°37’55.6” N, 18°06’49.4” E; 1–3 m deep, collected by V. Nikolić, 8 Oct. 2010 (PMR-13738 = UFRJPOR 6869); near Dubrovnik, 42°38'26.5" N, 18°06'14.2" E; 1 m, collected by V. Nikolić, 24 Sep. 2011 (PMR-17807, IRB-S2 = UFRJPOR 7541, IRB-S 3 = UFRJPOR 7542).

Colour

White in life and white or brown in ethanol.

section. C. Triactines with variable sizes and shapes.

Description

Cormus composed of irregular and loosely anastomosed tubes ( Fig. 6A ). Water-collecting tubes are not present. The skeleton consists of triactines without organisation ( Fig. 6B ).

Spicules ( Table 6)

TRIACTINES. Regular (equiangular and equiradiate). Their size is very variable. Actines are slightly conical to conical, straight, with blunt tips. Sometimes they are slightly undulated near the tips ( Fig. 6C ). Size: 88.5/ 10.2 µm.

Ecology

Specimens were collected on a semi-shaded, vertical hard limestone bottom under overhangs. They were often found in association with the macroalga Ellisolandia elongata (J. Ellis & Solander, 1786) .

Remarks

Until now, this species was considered endemic to Brazil ( Borojević 1971; Mothes de Moraes 1985; Klautau et al. 1994; Monteiro & Muricy 2004; Muricy & Hajdu 2006; Lanna et al. 2007). Originally, it was identified as C. primordialis ( Haeckel, 1872) ( Borojević 1971; Mothes de Moraes 1985; Klautau et al. 1994). However, considering differences in the size of the actines (holotype of C. conifera : 62.5–77.3(±9.3)–97.5/9(±1.0) µm; Haeckel measurements of C. primordialis : 100–150/ 8–12 µm), it was described as a new species: C. conifera . In the present work, we confirmed by morphological and molecular analyses ( Fig. 16 ) that C. conifera is really distinct from C. primordialis and that it occurs in the Adriatic Sea.

Figures

Fig. 6. Clathrina conifera (PMR 13738 = UFRJPOR 6869). A. Specimen in ethanol. B. Tangential

Fig. 16. Maximum likelihood (ML) tree based on ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequences of Calcinea. Bayesian posterior probabilities (PP) and bootstrap values (BS) are given near the branches (PP/BS; when>0.50). Adriatic specimens are written in bold; *Adriatic specimens obtained during this study; **Mediterranean specimens of Borojevia cerebrum; ***Brazilian specimens of Clathrina conifera.