Soleneiscus intermedius, Klautau & Lopes & Tavares & Pérez, 2022

Klautau, Michelle, Lopes, Matheus Vieira, Tavares, Gabriela & Pérez, Thierry, 2022, Integrative taxonomy of calcareous sponges (Porifera: Calcarea) from Réunion Island, Indian Ocean, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 194, pp. 671-725 : 685

SOLENEISCUS INTERMEDIUS SP. NOV.

( FIGS 7 , 8 ; TABLE 3 )

Z o o b a n k r e g i s t r a t i o n: u r n: l s i d: z o o b a n k. org:act: C9AE024F-7E3F-4B46-AD5F-A9E6704B59B8.

Diagnosis: Soleneiscus that grows in the form of ramified tubes at the base and whose skeleton is composed of diactines, rare triactines located only at the oscular region and two types of tetractines. The diactines are thin, maximum thickness of 7.5 µm.

Etymology: From Latin intermedium, meaning intermediate, in between, for the close morphological similarity with other species.

Type locality: Portail Caves , La Réunion, Indian Ocean .

Ty p e m a t e r i a l: H o l o t y p e – U F R J P O R 8 9 3 3 (= 171110 ESB2 TP6 ). Portail Caves , La Réunion, Indian Ocean, coll. T. Pérez, 10 November 2017, 18– 20 m depth .

Colour: Sponge light yellow in life and white in ethanol ( Fig. 7A, B ).

Morphology and anatomy: Cormus formed by ramified and erect tubes, ending in a single osculum without a crown ( Fig. 7A, B ). Surface hispid due to the presence of diactines lying perpendicular to the surface ( Fig. 7B ). The lumen of the tubes is also hispid due to the long apical actines of the tetractines ( Fig. 7C, D ). Aquiferous system asconoid. Skeleton composed of diactines, two size categories of tetractines, and rare triactines ( Fig. 8 ).

Figures

Figure 7. Soleneiscus intermedius (holotype; UFRJPOR 8933). A, specimen in vivo living with a red Demospongiae, hydrozoans and ascidians. B, fixed specimen (external hispid surface of a tube in the inset). C, tangential section of a tube. D, lumen of a tube with the apical actine of tetractines. Arrow points to a diactine of the surface.

Figure 8. Soleneiscus intermedius (holotype; UFRJPOR 8933). A, diactines. B, triactines. C, tetractines I (arrows point to apical actines). D, tetractines II.