Spongelia dubia Hyatt, 1877

Van Soest, Rob W. M., 2024, Correcting sponge names: nomenclatural update of lower taxa level Porifera, Zootaxa 5398 (1), pp. 1-122 : 18

Spongelia dubia Hyatt, 1877

( Fig. 2A )

Spongelia dubia Hyatt, 1877: 534 , pl. 17 fig. 9.

In addition to five specimens of the typical variety Spongelia dubia Hyatt, 1877 , from Biscayne Bay, Florida (syntypes MCZ 141739, PORa-7260 and 7263, approximate coordinates 25.565833°N 80.216389°W) and the Bahamas (specimens listed in the online MCZ database) Hyatt described three varieties of Spongelia dubia , varieties excavata (cf. below), foraminosa (cf. below), and mollior (cf. below).

Spongelia dubia Hyatt, 1877 , described as a black Dysidea -like sponge, was declared unrecognizable by De Laubenfels (1948: 146), but he suggested it could perhaps belong to the Red Sea species D. nigra Keller, 1889: 238 , currently a junior synonym of Hyrtios erectus ( Keller, 1889: 340) . There are no known black Dysidea species recorded from Florida or the wider Central West Atlantic region, but there is a black Hyrtios , viz. H. proteus Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 . However, the photo of the type specimen ( Hyatt, 1877: plate 17 fig. 9, cf. Fig. 2A ) is not typical for the genus Dysidea nor for the genus Hyrtios , and thus it is suspected to belong to a different, so far unrecognized, genus. For the time being it is assigned to Dysidea dubia ( Hyatt, 1877) as a taxon inquirendum until it may have been classified properly.

Figures

FIGURE 2. A. Spongia dubia Hyatt, 1877: pl. 17 fig. 9, B–C. Spongelia dubia var. excavata Hyatt, 1877: pl. 17 figs. 10–11, D. Spongelia spinosa Hyatt, 1877: pl. 16 fig. 32, E. Leiosella compacta Von Lendenfeld, 1889: pl. 13 fig. 7, F–H, Spongia (Spongia) obscura Wiedenmayer, 1977, F. habitus in situ pl. 3 fig. 1, G. dried habitus, pl. 3 fig. 2, H. skeleton pl. 3 fig. 3, I. Cacospongia linteiformis sensu Topsent, 1933: pl. I fig. 8, J. Spongia linteiformis Esper, 1797: pl. LVIII, figs. 1–2.