Petrosia (Petrosia) weinbergi

Rützler, Klaus, Piantoni, Carla, Van, Rob W. M. & Díaz, Cristina, 2014, Diversity of sponges (Porifera) from cryptic habitats on the Belize barrier reef near Carrie Bow Cay, Zootaxa 3805 (1), pp. 1-129 : 90

Petrosia (Petrosia) weinbergi van Soest, 1980

Synonymy and references. Petrosia weinbergi van Soest, 1980: 75, fig. 27, pl. 12: 3, 4.

Material. USNM 1229135, Carrie Bow Cay, forereef cave, 25 m. M. C. Diaz col. 8 Sep 2009. USNM 1229136, Curlew Bank forereef cave, 18 m. C. Piantoni and M. Parrish col. 23 Aug 2012.

External morphology. Crust- to cushion-shaped, reaching 110 cm 2 coverage, up to 10 mm thick. Oscula scattered, slightly elevated, 1–4 mm in diameter. Consistency firm and brittle, color in life brown, with an olive tinge.

Skeleton structure. In the ectosome there is a tangential crust of large and small spicules, supported by a choanosomal network of thick (50–80 Μm), multispicular fibers forming rounded meshes. Free spicules are abundant, arranged in criss-cross fashion.

Spicules. These are curved, blunt oxea, with transitions to styles and strongyles, in at least three size classes; the smallest ones, instead of being gently curved, tend to have a sharp kink in the center. Oxeas I: 250–350 x 10–15 (291 x 13) Μm; oxeas II: 120–240 x 5–13 (152 x 9) Μm; oxeas III: 30– 90 x 3–7 (58 x 4) Μm.

Ecology. Deep reef slopes and caves, 18– 43 m.

Distribution. Entire Caribbean.

Comments. Spicules of our specimens are slightly larger than those of the type material but all other characteristics (shape, color, skeleton structure, ecology) agree well.