Neopodospongia bergquistae, Sim-Smith, Carina & Kelly, Michelle, 2011

Sim-Smith, Carina & Kelly, Michelle, 2011, Two new genera in the family Podospongiidae (Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida) with eight new Western Pacific species, Zootaxa 2976, pp. 32-54 : 43-45

Neopodospongia bergquistae gen. nov. sp. nov.

( Fig. 1 E, 4I –M)

Material examined. Holotype ― NIWA 62016, Poor Knights Islands, 35.467° S, 174.733° E, 18 m, collected by Dr Christopher N. Battershill, on SCUBA, 25 Oct 1984.

Type location. Poor Knights Islands.

Distribution. Known only from type location.

Description. Thinly encrusting sponge, about 3–5 mm thick, spreading in small patches on rock walls. Surface is smooth and glossy, with an open, lacy appearance, and is easily detached in life. Oscules with elevated rims about 1–2 mm high and 2–3 mm in diameter are scattered over the surface of the sponge ( Fig. 1 E). Texture is leathery. Colour of the ectosome in life is translucent white, the underlying choanosome is dark beige.

Skeleton. Ectosome is 550–650 mm thick, translucent, densely collagenous, and clearly differentiated from the underlying choanosome. Aciculospinorhabds are lightly packed in the ectosome and are arranged more or less vertically with the apical spire pointing towards the sponge surface. They do not extend beyond the surface. Choanosome is thick, fleshy, composed of very thick tracts of megascleres, around 300 µm thick, that meander vertically from the collagenous basal layer, radiating towards the surface and dividing into numerous fine secondary fibres that expand again into delicate fans that terminate below the surface. Aciculospinorhabds are only lightly dispersed throughout the choanosome.

Megascleres ( Fig. 4 I, Table 2)― Strongyloxeas, faintly polytylote: 405 (355–457) x 6 (5–8) µm.

Microscleres ( Fig. 4 J–M, Table 2)― Aciculospinorhabds, asymmetrical, with clearly differentiated ends. The basal whorl is composed of numerous spines that extend obliquely away from the shaft towards the base of the spicule. The median whorl consists of a number of smooth bifurcating spines arranged in pairs that encircle the shaft horizontally ( Fig. 4 M). The apical whorl is a ring of bifurcate spines that bifurcate in the vertical plane. The apex is a thick spire with a distal ring of small spines. The protoaciculospinorhabd is sigmoidal in shape ( Fig. 4 L). The spicules are strictly aciculospinorhabds in one size category; 35 (28–40) µm long x 17 (15–22) µm wide.

Substrate, depth range, and ecology: Encrusting a flat rock surface at 18 m.

Etymology. Named after Dame Professor Patricia Rose Bergquist of New Zealand (deceased), for her enormous and enduring contribution to our knowledge of sponges in general, and to our knowledge of New Zealand sponges in particular.

Remarks. Apart from their disparate type localities, N. bergquistae sp. nov. is difficult to differentiate from N. pagei sp. nov. in life; Neopodospongia bergquistae sp. nov. is slightly thinner with a differential colouration of the choanosome and ectosome. However, the two species can be reliably differentiated by their skeletal architecture and spicule complement. The ectosome of N. bergquistae sp. nov. is thicker and more collagenous than that of N. pagei sp. nov., which is packed and granular with projecting microscleres. The fibre architecture of N. bergquistae sp. nov. is more intricate than that of N. pagei sp. nov., forming fine sprays of secondary fibres quite deeply within the choanosome. The megascleres of N. bergquistae sp. nov. are shorter and thinner than those of N. pagei sp. nov., and the aciculospinorhabds, while being similar in morphology to those of N. pagei sp. nov. are markedly shorter and narrower. There is only one discernable category of aciculospinorhabds in N. bergquistae sp. nov. and they are considerably more spinose than those of N. pagei sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURE 1. New genera and species of Podospongiidae from New Zealand, Australian, and Indonesian waters: A. Podospongia virga, holotype NIWA 52692, Cape Reinga, New Zealand; B. Podospongia colini, holotype USNM 1154618, Sulawesi, Indonesia; C. Neopodospongia pagei, holotype NIWA 52580, Three Kings Islands, New Zealand; D. Neopodospongia exilis, holotype NIWA 52579, Cavalli seamounts, New Zealand; E. Neopodospongia bergquistae, holotype NIWA 62016, Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand; F. Diplopodospongia teliformis, holotype NIWA 35005, Hikurangi Channel, New Zealand; G. Diplopodospongia rara, holotype NIWA 52693, Campbell Plateau, New Zealand; H. Diplopodospongia macquariensis, holotype QM G 331915, Seamount 8, Macquarie Ridge, Australia. Scale = 10 mm for all images.

FIGURE 4. Megascleres and microscleres of Neopodospongia gen. nov. spp. nov: Neopodospongia pagei, holotype NIWA 52580, A. strongyloxea, scale = 100 µm; B. aciculospinorhabd I; C, D. immature forms of aciculospinorhabd I; E. sigmoidal protoaciculospinorhabd I; F. aciculospinorhabd II; G. immature aciculospinorhabd II, scale B – G = 20 µm; H. top down view of the apical whorl and spire of aciculospinorhabd, scale = 5 µm. Neopodospongia bergquistae, holotype NIWA 62016, I. strongyloxea, scale = 100 µm; J. aciculospinorhabd; K. immature aciculospinorhabd; L. sigmoidal protoaciculospinorhabd, scale J – L = 20 µm; M. top down view of the apical whorl and spire of aciculospinorhabd, scale = 5 µm. Neopodospongia exilis, holotype NIWA 52579, N. polytylote style with subtylostylote modification, scale = 100 µm; O. ectosomal aciculospinorhabd; P, Q. choanosomal aciculospinorhabds, scale = 20 µm; R. sigmoidal protoaciculospinorhabd, scale O – R = 20 µm.