Haliclona (Flagellia) edaphus ( De Laubenfels, 1930 ) Van Soest, 2017

Van Soest, Rob W. M., 2017, Flagellia, a new subgenus of Haliclona (Porifera, Haplosclerida), European Journal of Taxonomy 351, pp. 1-48 : 37-39

Haliclona (Flagellia) edaphus ( De Laubenfels, 1930) subgen. et comb. nov.

Fig. 18

Gellius edaphus De Laubenfels, 1930: 28 .

? Sigmadocia edaphus – Dickinson 1945: 12, pl. 14 figs 27–28, pl. 15 fig. 29. — Green & Bakus 1994: 46, fig. 27.

Xestospongia edapha Lee et al. 2007: 110 (redescription of holotype).

Gellius edaphus – De Laubenfels 1932: 111, fig. 66.

? non Gellius edaphus – Sim & Kim 1988: 27, pl. 2 figs 3–4.

Material examined

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: small ‘wet’ fragment of holotype ( USNM 21444 ), California, Carmel, Pescadero Point , 36.5037° N, 121.9357° W, intertidal cave, coll. M.W. De Laubenfels, Jul. 1926.

Description (from De Laubenfels 1932: 111–112)

A thick plate-like mass (40 × 30 × 20 cm) encrusting stones in an intertidal cave. Color whitish in life and in alcohol. Surface smooth. Oscules of about 1 mm diameter are distributed evenly over the upper surface. Consistency firm to hard.

SKELETON. Dense, confused reticulation of thick oxeas. At the surface single spicules are arranged tangentially.

OXEAS ( Fig. 18 A–A1). Curved, cigar-shaped, sharply pointed, 272– 314 –342 × 12– 15. 8 –17 μm (De Laubenfels gives 260–270 × 15–16 μm).

FLAGELLOSIGMAS ( Fig. 18 B–C). Elliptical in outline, with relatively large difference in length of long and short endings. Long endings with sharp curvature ending straight with a faint upturn in many spicules, short endings widely curved with only modest incurved apices. Length of long endings 76– 89 –105 μm, short endings 64– 67 –72 μm, width 53– 66 –81 μm, thickness 1.5– 2. 95 –3.5 μm. De Laubenfels did not differentiate flagellosigmas from normal sigmas, his drawing shows only a flagellosigma, sizes quoted by him were 30–100 μm.

NORMAL SIGMAS ( Fig. 18D ). Not very common. Shape robust, symmetrical, apices sharply curved but not incurved, with many thin growth stages (not included in meaurements), 37– 63. 9 –81 × 2.5– 3. 3 –4 μm. De Laubenfels did not mention the presence of ‘normal’ sigmas.

Distribution and ecology

California, near Carmel (Marine Ecoregion Northern California). Apparently confined to intertidal and shallow subtidal rocks. De Laubenfels mentions a second locality for this species, Point Fermin, near San Pedro (33.7054° N, 118.2938° W) (Marine Ecoregion Southern Californian Bight).

Remarks

Lee et al. 2007 redescribed the holotype (as Xestospongia edapha ) and provided SEM evidence of the presence of both flagellosigmas and normal sigmas. They gave oxea sizes as 260- 275 -300 × 12-13-15, flagellosigmas 75-(87-96)–118, and normal sigmas 46-(52-81)-118 μm. Except for the highest value of sigma length (which may be a misprint as it is the same as the upper size of the flagellosigmas), their data conform to the present description and are slightly different from De Laubenfels’ original description. Lee et al. (2007) provided illustrations of the holotype and of its skeleton. They treated the name edaphus as an adjective (by adjusting the combination with the genus Xestospongia to edapha ), but it is a noun from the Greek, meaning bottom or pavement. For that reason, the name edaphus in its original spelling is retained here.

Dickinson (1945) reported this species from the (Mexican) Gulf of California (Carmen Island, approximately 25.94° N, 111.09° W) at a depth of 120 m. The oxeas of his specimen measured up to 400 × 18 μm and like De Laubenfels he did not differentiate flagellosigmas from normal sigmas, averaging them together as 40 μm. His pl. 15 fig. 29 shows a ‘distorted’ flagellosigma, which from the magnification provided has a long ending of about 60 μm long, with prominent long upturned curvature. Depth occurrence, larger oxeas and long upturned endings on the flagellosigmas together indicate a likely different species.

Green & Bakus (1994) reported two specimens, one from a depth of 54–63 m and one from 200 m, collected from the Santa Maria Basin off the coast of Southern California. The descriptions are somewhat confused, and apparently the spicule measurements between the two specimens varied widely. Possibly, the specimen from 54–63 m could conform to H. (F.) edaphus , but the one from 200 m deep appears to be different as the authors gave ‘sigma’ measurements of 13–250 μm, which are not compatible with the sizes from H. (F.) edaphus . Assignment of these deep-water California records awaits proper redescription of the specimens.

Sim & Kim’s (1988) record of Gellius edaphus from 145 m depth off South Korea (33°N, 127.5° E) is likewise uncertain, as the long ending of the pictured flagellosigma is smaller than 50 μm. Combined with the large geographic distance from the type locality in California, this is sufficient indication of unlikely conspecificity.

Figures

Fig. 18. Haliclona (Flagellia) edaphus (De Laubenfels, 1930) from California, SEM images of the spicules made from a fragment of the holotype (USNM 21444). A. Oxea. A 1. Detail of one of the apices. B–C. Flagellosigmas. B 1. Detail of long ending of flagellosigma. B 2. Detail of short ending of flagellosigma. D. Sigma.