Fascaplysinopsis Bergquist, 1980

Ekins, Merrick, Erpenbeck, Dirk, Debitus, Cécile, Petek, Sylvain, Mai, Tepoerau, Wörheide, Gert & Hooper, John N. A., 2023, Revision of the genus Fascaplysinopsis, the type species Fascaplysinopsis reticulata (Hentschel, 1912) (Porifera, Dictyoceratida, Thorectidae) and descriptions of two new genera and seven new species, Zootaxa 5346 (3), pp. 201-241 : 207

Genus Fascaplysinopsis Bergquist, 1980

Definition: Superficially armoured Thorectinae , with a dense collagenous matrix supported by a skeleton of thick cored heavily laminated primary fibres, uncored laminated secondary and tertiary fibres, often with pithing.

Diagnosis. Lobate upright digitate fistular and semi burrowing sponges, with a superficial armour and rounded conules. The skeleton is semi-regular but characterised by large diameter detritus cored fasciculating laminated primary fibres, uncored often pithed, laminated secondary fibres and tertiary fibres. The primary fibres can be 2 to 10 times the diameter of the secondary fibres. The tertiary fibres can also be 2 to 10 times smaller than the secondary fibres. The mesohyl is characteristically gelatinous due to the collagenous matrix, but the consistency is firm and compressible.

Remarks. The genus Fascaplysinopsis was created by Bergquist (1980) to accommodate irregular branched thorectid sponges with detritus-cored fasciculated primary fibres and uncored secondary fibres. This was meant to differentiate species from Aplysinopsis that have large fasciculated primary fibres, lack a sand cortex, and have a cavernous internal skeleton. When doing this, Bergquist designated Aplysinopsis reticulata Hentschel, 1912 as the type species, which had previously been synonymised with Fasciospongia cavernosa ( Schmidt, 1862) by de Laubenfels (1948: 123), the latter action rejected by Bergquist (1980). Unfortunately, in defining Fascaplysinopsis, Bergquist relied heavily on recently collected material from Queensland, Australia. Here, we examined the syntype of A. reticulata (SMF 904) and compared it to the specimens from Queensland described by Bergquist (1980) and used in the illustration of the type species of Fascaplysinopsis ( Bergquist 1980: Fig. 16 A–B ), which is here attributed to a new species from a new genus of Thorectinae , Skolosachlys gen. nov. In addition, the material from New Caledonia and northern Queensland later added by Bergquist (1995: 18) to F. reticulata , is also attributed here to a new species from another new genus of Thorectinae , Rubrafasciculus gen. nov. Thus, Fascaplysinopsis is restricted to a monotypic genus containing only its type species, F. reticulata ( Hentschel, 1912) , but having its generic definition amended based on re-examination of the syntype of A. reticulata , here designated as the lectotype. The addition of new species F. palauensis sp. nov., F. klobos sp. nov. and F. ronquinni sp. nov. brings the total number of species in Fascaplysinopsis to four.

Figures

FIGURE 16. Rubrafasciculus cf. cerasus sp. nov. A. QM G306488 underwater.B. CASIZ 300177 underwater.C. QM G306488 preserved, exterior surface and interior surface. D. QM G306488 surface, showing the transparent membrane and the thick sand armouring of the ectosome and the collagenous choanosome. E. QM G306488 Cored primary fibres and the uncored secondary and tertiary fibres of the holotype. F. QM G306488 Magnified section showing the thick cored primary fibres and the uncored secondary and tertiary fibres of the holotype.