LEUCETTIDAE DE LAUBENFELS, 1936

Lopes, Matheus Vieira & Klautau, Michelle, 2023, Phylogeny and revision of Leucaltis and Leucettusa (Porifera: Calcarea), with new classification proposals and description of a new type of aquiferous system, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 198, pp. 691-746 : 714-715

FAMILY LEUCETTIDAE DE LAUBENFELS, 1936

Recent molecular data draw attention to the relationship of the genus we are proposing here, RoƜella gen. nov., with other genera within the family Leucettidae de Laubenfels, 1936 (e.g. Voigt et al., 2012, 2017; Klautau et al., 2013; Riesgo et al., 2018) and we confirm this relationship. The current diagnosis of Leucettidae is:

Clathrinida with a solid body. The aquiferous system is always leuconoid. The choanoskeleton is well-developed, in the form of a regular network comprised of triactines and/or tetractines. The cortex is thin and comprised of spicules similar to those of the choanoskeleton ( Borojević et al., 2002).

Several morphological aspects are similar among RoƜella , Leucetta and Pericharax . The three genera have a solid, massive body and a leuconoid aquiferous system (occasionally syconoid in RoƜella ); triactines and tetractines, different from the large cortical category, are present in the choanosomal and atrial skeletons. The cortical region is more developed in RoƜella , with several large layers of spicules, whereas it is thin in Leucetta and Pericharax . To include the genus RoƜella in Leucettidae , the diagnosis of this family is being modified to:

Clathrinida with a solid massive body, never anastomosed. Aquiferous system leuconoid or syconoid. The choanoskeleton is disorganized and formed by a network of triactines and/or tetractines of equal size or smaller than those found in the cortex. Cortical spicules are often found also in the choanoskeleton.