Ircinia grobulosa, Sim & Lee & Kim, 2016

Sim, Chung Ja, Lee, Kyung Jin & Kim, Hyung June, 2016, Nine new species of genus Ircinia (Demospongiae: Dictyoceratida: Irciniidae) from Korea, Journal of Species Research 5 (3), pp. 483-497 : 484

2. Ircinia grobulosa n. sp. ( Fig. 2 )

Type specimen. Holotype (NIBRIV0000554221), Korea: Munseom, Seogwipo­si , Jeju­do, 15 Aug 2015, Kim BI, by SCUBA, Depth 25 m, deposited in the NIBR.

Description. Round mass, attached to shell of mollusc, size up to 8× 5 × 3.3 cm. Surface, week honeycomb pattern with row conules. Several oscules, 2­4 mm in diameter, opened at side of sponge. Colour yellowish gray in life. Texture soft and compressible.

Skeleton: Primary fibres, 450­750 μm in diameter, cored with large sands and broken spicules. Two kinds of secondary fibres, secondary web with large irregular mesh net, 400­500 μm in diameter, and some branch pattern with root­like diverging secondary fibres, 500 μm in diameter. Filaments have two categories in size, 2 and 8 μm in diameter, terminal knobs, 10-15 μm in diameter.

Etymology. This species is named after the ball shape of sponge.

Remark. This new species is characterized by thick encrusting, and two categories of filament in diameter, and secondary fibres always joined to primary fascicles by a number of diverging roots ( Fig. 2C ).

Figures

Fig. 2. Ircinia grobulosa n. sp. A, entire animal; B, skeletal structure near surface; C, branched secondary fibres; D, cored primary fibres and secondary web; E, F, choanosome skeletal structure. Scale bars:A =2 cm, B=200 μm, C-F=100 μm.