Ciocalypta parnaiba, Annunziata & Nascimento & Pinheiro, 2024

Annunziata, Bruno B., Nascimento, Elielton & Pinheiro, Ulisses, 2024, A new species of Ciocalypta Bowerbank, 1862 (Demospongiae, Suberitida, Halichondriidae) from Northeastern Brazil, Zootaxa 5477 (1), pp. 98-100 : 98-100

Ciocalypta parnaiba sp. nov.

( Figure 1 )

Type locality. Ponta do Sardim Beach (02º55’5.66”S, 41º21’42.89”W), Cajueiro da Praia municipality, Piaui State, Brazil .

Type specimens. Holotype: UFPEPOR 2769 , Ponta do Sardim Beach (02º55’5.66”S, 41º21’42.89”W), Cajueiro da Praia municipality, Piauí State, Brazil, 0.5 m depth, coll. B. Annunziata and M.R.A. Mendes, 24 June 2017 . Paratypes: UFPEPOR 2731 , Barra Grande Beach (02º54’12.68”S, 41º23’57.89”W), Cajueiro da Praia municipality, Piauí State, Brazil, 0.5 m depth, coll. B. Annunziata, D.M. Val, L.H.O. Souza and L. Valle, 15 May 2018 . UFPEPOR 2732 , Coqueiro Beach (02º54’19.56”S, 41º34’35.26”W), Luis Correia municipality, Piauí State, Brazil, 0.5 m depth, coll. B. Annunziata, February 2016 . UFPEPOR 2733 , Barrinha Beach (02º54’51.04”S, 41º22’47.84”W), Cajueiro da Praia municipality, Piauí State, Brazil, 0.5 m depth, coll. B. Annunziata and M.R.A. Mendes, 25 June 2017 .

Diagnosis Ciocalypta with green-yellowish life color, oxeas in single category (146.4–535.3 µm) and styles in single category (132.5–347.5 µm).

External morphology (UFPEPOR 2769- holotype) ( Fig. 1A, B ) basal mass covered by sediment and growing out of a rock, from which fistules arise. In life, the flexible fistules are a translucent green-yellowish color (length/width: 0.8–2.0 cm/ 0.2–0.8 cm) with apical oscula (0.1 cm diameter) (not visible on preserved specimens). After preservation, specimens acquire a wrinkled and cavernous form and are beige in color.

Skeleton (UFPEPOR 2769- holotype) ( Fig. 1C, D ). basal region, confused and with irregular reticulation, formed by crossed oxeas in bundles, perpendicular to the surface, and poorly developed spongin interconnecting the spicular bundles; fistules formed mainly by oxeas and rare styles, with ascending bundles ending in bouquets of irregular spicules, perpendicular to surface.

Spicules (UFPEPOR 2769- holotype) ( Fig. 1E, F ). Styles (132.50– 220.82 –347.50/2.50– 5.95 –10.00 μm): found only in fistules, rare (ca. 10–15 styles), straight to slightly curved with hastate point. Oxeas (146.45– 339.60 –535.30/2.44– 6.22 –9.76 μm): single category, straight to slightly curved, with acerate point.

Etymology. The specific epithet parnaiba refers to the Parnaíba River, which runs through the entire Piauí State and whose mouth corresponds to the Parnaíba River Delta.

Discussion. The genus Ciocalypta comprises 29 species worldwide, with eight occurring in the Atlantic Ocean. According to Erpenbeck & Van Soest (2002), the genus is characterized by the peculiar form and presence of oxeas, styles or both as spicules. Ciocalypta parnaiba sp. nov. has a combination of oxeas and styles, similar to C. gibbsi (Wells, Wells & Gray, 1960) , C. magnastyla Arroyo, Hajdu, Willenz and Cóndor-Luján, 2020 , C. penicillus Bowerbank, 1862 and C. rutila Sollas, 1902 . Ciocalypta gibbisi possess two categories of oxeas, which differs from C. parnaiba sp. nov. which has a single category, the styles on C. gibbisi are approximately twice the length of C. parnaiba sp. nov. (see Arroyo et al. 2020, p. 435–437 for comparative table of Ciocalypta ). From C. magnastyla , the new species differs by the length of the styles, which can be up to two times longer in C. magnastyla than C. parnaiba sp. nov. (see Arroyo et al. 2020).

In Ciocalypta penicillus has short oxeas and two categories of styles, while C. parnaiba sp. nov. presents longer oxeas and rare styles in a single category (see Arroyo et al. 2020). Our new species differs from C. rutila by the short length of the oxeas (see Arroyo et al. 2020). The presence of only oxea differentiates C. parnaiba sp. nov. from C. aderma (Lévi & Vacelet, 1958) , C. alba Carvalho, Carraro, Lerner & Hajdu, 2003 , C. colorata Gutekunst, Müller, Pohl, Brümmer, Malik, Fawzi, Erpenbeck & Lehnert, 2018 , C. digitata (Dendy, 1905) , C. hyalina (Pulitzer-Finali, 1978) , C. hyaloderma Ridley & Dendy, 1886 , C. porrecta (Topsent, 1928) , C. tyleri Bowerbank, 1873 and C. vansoesti (Hooper, Cook, Hobbs & Kennedy, 1997) . Ciocalypta expanda Tanita & Hoshino, 1989 , C. gracilis Topsent, 1897 , C. heterostyla Hentschel, 1912 , C. massalis (Carter, 1883) , C. polymastia (Lendenfeld, 1888) and C. simplex (Thiele, 1900) differ from C. parnaiba sp. nov. by having only styles. Finally, C. parnaiba sp. nov. differs from C. aciculata Carter, 1885 , C. bustamanti Sim-Smith, Hickman Jr & Kelly, 2021, C. melichlora Sollas, 1902 , C. microstrongyla Vacelet, Vasseur & Lévi, 1976 , C. minuta Rezvoi, 1931 , C. stalagmites Hentschel, 1912 and C. weltneri Arnesen, 1920 which have other spicule types in their composition.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Ciocalypta parnaiba sp. nov. A, UFPEPOR 2769 (holotype) life color specimen; B. UFPEPOR 2769 (holotype) preserved specimen; C. thick section from basal region; D. fistule thick section; E and F spicule complement in SEM—E. style. F. oxeas. Scales bars: A and B = 1 cm; C = 300 μm; D = 600 μm; E and F = 100 μm.