Chalaronema sibogae Ijima, 1927

Tabachnick, Konstantin R. & Menschenina, Dorte Janussen And Larisa L., 2008, New Australian Hexactinellida (Porifera) with a revision of Euplectella aspergillum *, Zootaxa 1866 (1), pp. 7-68 : 33-35

Chalaronema sibogae Ijima, 1927 ( Fig. 14 ; Tab. 13A, B)

Material. Type: ZMA —fragment of the type, ‘Siboga’, sta. 251. Other materials: WAM 108­82 — RV Soela, sta. SO 2/82/ 38, 122 miles NNW of Port Headland , 18 o 22’–23’ S 117 o 56’ –54’E, depth 309– 316 m. WAM 101­ 82 — RV Soela , sta. SO 2/82/42 119 miles NW of Port Headland, 18 o 44’S 117 o 20’–19’E, depth 326– 360 m. WAM Z 602 (3 specimens)— RV Soela, sta. SO 2/82/44 124 miles NW of Port Headland , 18 o 54’–55’ S 117 o 2 ­ 0’E, depth 300– 306 m. WAM Z 603 — RV Soela, sta. SO 2/82/ 45, 133 miles NW of Port Headland , 18 o 49’– 48’ S 116 o 50’ –52’S, depth 400– 406 m.

Description. Body: The new specimens show an oval body form with a sieve­plate, but without an atrial cavity. The length of the body is 40–80 mm, the diameter 20–50 mm. Some of the specimens have upper fragments of the tufts (150–400 mm long and 3–4 mm in diameter) of anchorate spicules. It is very difficult to recognize if these tufts are twisted or not, but in comparison with the original description of this sponge the tufts are thinner and more compact.

Spicules: The measurements are given in the Tab 13A, B. Most of the spicules are in the size range of what is known from the original description. But one sponge WAM 101­82 has a few mesamphidiscs with spiny shafts (absent in other specimens) and a notable amount of rare micropentactins and additionally common microhexactins similar in shape to the microstauractins (with harpoon­like rays), but their rays are generally shorter, 0.043 –0.112 mm.

Remarks. It is very difficult to make a decision if the genus Chalaronema should be kept or synonymized with Hyalonema (Pteronema) , because these sponges often have no basal tufts preserved, or they are so destroyed that it is impossible to decide whether or not the root tuft is twisted. Moreover, it is unknown if the types were damaged in a way that the tuft has become untwisted, or whether this really is very important for taxonomic purposes. Nevertheless, the genus Chalaronema is kept for the time being and our new specimens are tentatively referred to it.

Table 13 A Types ( Ijima, 1927 and new Australian materials

original data)

2 specimens fr795 fr797

n avg min max std n avg min max std n avg min max std L. derm. pentact. pinul. ray.110.150 15.122.087.204.030 15.087.041.102.014 L. derm. pentact. tangent. ray.040.068 15.045.031.056.007 15.044.031.056.008 L. atr. pentact. pinul. ray.080 16.218.122.321.063 15.214.107.306.067 L. atr. pentact. tangent. ray.075 16.040.031.056.007 15.044.036.056.007 L. macroamphidisc.272.190.357 16.319.265.388.040 15.297.209.383.051 l umbel, macramphidisc.089.030.114 16.110.077.143.022 15.092.056.112.018 d umbel, macramphidisc.103.049.137 16.129.087.163.026 15.110.066.143.023 L. mesamphidisc

l umbel, mesamphidisc

d umbel, mesamphidisc

L micramphidisc.016.013.024 15.015.011.017.002 15.015 0.13.021.002 l umbel, micramphidisc.005.004.009 15.005.004.006.001 15.005.004.006.001 d umbel, micramphidisc.005.004.007 15.005.004.006.001 15.005.004.006.001 L microstauractine ray.060.198 15.106.077.153.020 15.123.087.179.028 Table 13 B new Australian materials

fr802.2 fr823

n avg min max std n avg min max std L. derm. pentact. pinul. ray 15.096.071.117.011 25.113.092.128.010 L. derm. pentact. tangent. ray 15.047.036.056.006 25.042.023.051.007 L. atr. pentact. pinul. ray 15.233.112.510.118 25.239.097.357.071 L. atr. pentact. tangent. ray 15.045.023.061.009 25.045.033.056.007 L. macroamphidisc 15.339.235.439.049 25.293.219.383.037 l umbel, macramphidisc 15.092.061.122.019 25.092.061.133.015 d umbel, macramphidisc 15.108.077.143.020 25.113.079.143.018 L. mesamphidisc 9.093.046.138.027 l umbel, mesamphidisc 9.028.015.036.006 d umbel, mesamphidisc 9.025.012.038.007 L micramphidisc 15.017.013.022.003 25.018.014.038.005 l umbel, micramphidisc 15.005.004.007.001 25.006.004.014.002 d umbel, micramphidisc 15.005.004.006.001 25.006.004.012.001 L microstauractine ray 15.113.071.153.023 25.114.010.163.031

Lophophysema Schulze, 1900

Lophophysema inflatum Schulze, 1900

Material. WAM Z 13101 ; WAM Z 574 ; WAM Z 576 ; WAM Z 13102 —sta. 4, NW Cape , 21 o 28.80’–28.20’ S 113 o 57.93’ –58.05’E, depth 570 m. NTM Z 0002572 —sta. NWS­0042, off Rowley Shoals , Northwest Shelf , Scampi trawl Grounds, 17 o 24’S 118 o 52’E, depth 445 m. NTM Z 0002589 ; NTM Z 0002591 —sta. NWS­0049, off Rowley Shoals , Northwest Shelf , Scampi trawl Grounds, 17 o 39’S 118 o 38’E, 410 m. WAM Z 12492—sta. 1031103, NW Cape (W Australia), 21 o 39.18’S 113 o 51.44’E, depth 610– 649 m.

Description and remarks. The identified specimens and fragments definitely belong to this species; their spicule composition and forms are equal to the variability of the species described by Tabachnick and Lévi (1999).

Figures

FIGURE 14. Chalaronema sibogae Ijima, 1927, WAM Z 602. A, overview of spicules, scale 300 µm. B, macramphidisc, scale 100 µm.