Clathrina angraensis, Azevedo, Fernanda & Klautau, Michelle, 2007

Azevedo, Fernanda & Klautau, Michelle, 2007, Calcareous sponges (Porifera, Calcarea) from Ilha Grande Bay, Brazil, with descriptions of three new species, Zootaxa 1402, pp. 1-22 : 5-6

Clathrina angraensis sp. nov.

TYPE MATERIAL—UFRJPOR 4866 (holotype / alcohol). Angra dos Reis (Botinas Islands), Brazil. Collected by M. Klautau & D. Batista (6 April 2003), 2m depth. UFRJPOR 4864, UFRJPOR 4873 (paratypes / alcohol). Angra dos Reis (Botinas Islands), Brazil. Collected by M. Klautau (6 April 2003), 2 m depth.

TYPE LOCALITY—Botinas Islands, Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

MATERIAL EXAMINED—UFRJPOR 4865, UFRJPOR 4866, UFRJPOR 4867, UFRJPOR 4868, UFR­ JPOR 4869, UFRJPOR 4870, UFRJPOR 4871, UFRJPOR 4872, UFRJPOR 4874, UFRJPOR 4875. Angra dos Reis (Botinas Islands). Collected by M. Klautau (6 April 2003), 2m depth.

COLOUR—White in life and in alcohol.

ETYMOLOGY—From the type locality.

DESCRIPTION—Massive cormus formed of thin, irregular and tightly anastomosed tubes, particularly in the apical region ( Fig. 3 A). The largest specimen collected is 33 x 24 x 8 mm. Water­collecting tubes are present. The skeleton has no special organization, comprising triactines only ( Fig. 3 B). Porocytes are easily observed ( Fig. 3 C).

SPICULES ( Tables 2 , 3 and 4 ). Triactines: Equiangular and equiradiate. Actines are slightly conical, frequently undulated near the tip, and sharp ( Fig. 3 D).

REMARKS—At the moment, 12 species of Clathrina have been cited for Brazil: C. ascandroides Borojevic 1971 , C. aspina , C. atlantica (Thacker 1908) , C. aurea Solé­Cava et al. 1991 , C. brasiliensis Klautau et al. 1994 , C. cerebrum (Haeckel 1972) , C. conifera Klautau & Borojevic 2001 , C. cylindractina Klautau et al. 1994 , C. quadriradiata Klautau & Borojevic 2001 , C. primordialis ( Haeckel 1872) , C. reticulum (Schmidt 1862) , and C. tetractina Klautau & Borojevic 2001 . Considering the presence of only one type of spicule (triactine), Clathrina angraensis sp. nov. could only be mistaken for the Brazilian species C. aurea , C. conifera and C. cylindractina . Nevertheless, C. aurea , C. conifera and C. cylindractina do not have water­collecting tubes, and their cormus is loosely anastomosed. Taking into account the non­Brazilian species, the most similar is C. ceylonensis (Dendy 1905) , a species from the Indian Ocean, with water­collecting tubes and triactines of similar size [78.5 (7.9) / 7.4 (0.5) µm]. Despite these similarities, however, C. angraensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from C. ceylonensis by the shape of the actines, which are undulated and sharp in the former, and straight and blunt in the latter.

Figures

FIGURE 3. External and internal morphology of Clathrina angraensis sp. nov. A—Preserved holotype and detail of the cormus anastomosis; B—Section of the cormus showing the disorganised skeleton; C—Section of tube wall showing porocytes; D—Triactine.

Tables

TABLE 2: Spicules measurements of the holotype of Clathrina angraensis sp. nov. (UFRJPOR 4866).

	Length				Width
	(µm)				(µm)
Spicule	min	mean	S	max	mean	S	n
Triactines	48.0	78.0	9.8	100.0	6.8	1.0	30

TABLE 3: Spicules measurements of a paratype of Clathrina angraensis sp. nov. (UFRJPOR 4864).

	Length				Width
	(µm)				(µm)
Spicule	min	mean	S	max	mean	S	n
Triactines	48.0	70.8	8.0	88.5	5.9	0.5	30

TABLE 4: Spicules measurements of a paratype of Clathrina angraensis sp. nov. (UFRJPOR 4873).

	Length				Width
	(µm)				(µm)
Spicule	min	mean	S	max	mean	S	n
Triactines	52.0	75.2	8.6	90.0	6.2	0.8	30