Petrosia weinbergi van Soest, 1980

Diaz, Maria Cristina, Nuttall, Marissa, Pomponi, Shirley A., Ruetzler, Klaus, Klontz, Sarah, Adams, Christi, Hickerson, Emma L. & Schmahl, G. P., 2023, An annotated and illustrated identification guide to common mesophotic reef sponges (Porifera, Demospongiae, Hexactinellida, and Homoscleromorpha) inhabiting Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and vicinities, ZooKeys 1161, pp. 1-68 : 1

Petrosia weinbergi van Soest, 1980

Fig. 24

Diagnostic features.

Thick crusts (1-2 cm in thickness) to plate-shaped. Dark green to brown in color externally and tan internally, with oscula contrasting by a wide white rim. The surface is smooth to slightly undulating. The oscula are slightly raised from the surface and white, 1-2 mm wide and 2-5 cm apart. Usually, this species forms small patches, and the specimen in Fig. 24 is 8 × 6 × 1.5-2 cm. The sponge is hard, barely compressible.

Similar species.

The ear-shaped specimens of Petrosia weinbergi are similar to Petrosia pellasarca . The former is greenish in color and lacks the small toxa. Similar species: include crustose forms of Cliona varians and Cliona aprica may look similar to crustose forms of Petrosia weinbergi .

Distribution and abundance.

This species is rare in shallow reefs throughout the Caribbean and at mesophotic reefs in the Greater Antilles, Guyana, Brazil and in the northwestern GOM at FGBNMS. At FGBNMS the species is found in rare to low (1-10) abundance at two localities. Depth ranges from 8-500 m.

Ecology.

Coralline algae reef, algal nodule, lower mesophotic reef.

Identification.

KR, SK, CA, MCD.

References.

Pomponi et al. 2019; van Soest 1980, 2017.

Figures

Figure 24. Petrosia weinbergi, 69 - 71 m deep. Samples DFH 9 - 3 C, DFH 9 - 6 B.