Sycon ampulla sensu Borojević, 1967

Van, Rob W. M. & De, Nicole J., 2018, Calcareous sponges of the Western Indian Ocean and Red Sea, Zootaxa 4426 (1), pp. 1-160 : 153

Sycon ampulla sensu Borojević, 1967

Borojević (1967: 194) reported the occurrence of this South American species, described by Haeckel (1872: 308, as Sycandra ), from the southern and eastern coast of South Africa. Like Haeckel’s species this is a stalked Sycon . Borojević’s claim that the South African specimens are very similar to the South American specimens cannot be corroborated, as there are clear differences: Haeckel states that the stalk consists mostly of long diactines of up to 1.5 mm long, whereas these of South Africa are only up to 200 µm. The characteristically swollen unpaired actines of the atrial and peduncular tri- and tetractines are not mentioned or pictured by Haeckel. We believe the South African material does not belong to Sycon ampulla ( Haeckel, 1872) .