Halicnemia geniculata Sara , 1958

Bertolino, Marco, Cerrano, Carlo, Bavestrello, Giorgio, Carella, Mirco, Pansini, Maurizio & Calcinai, Barbara, 2013, Diversity of Porifera in the Mediterranean coralligenous accretions, with description of a new species, ZooKeys 336, pp. 1-37 : 14

Halicnemia geniculata Sara, 1958 Figs 13 A–D

Halicnemia geniculata Sarà, 1958: 237.

Material examined.

Specimen IG-F-BL4-sp1-sciaf.; alcohol preserved, Gallinara Island (station 2, Falconara) 44°01'22"N, 8°13'34"E, depth 35 m, collected on 17-06-2009. The specimen was entirely used for spicule preparations.

Description.

Small and thin, yellow-ochre encrustation (1 cm2) on a coralligenous block.

Skeleton. Not observed.

Spicules. Long tylostyles, 405 (1351.7) 1976 × 1.5 (2.7) 4 μm, generally straight, with terminal or subterminal swellings variable in shape; irregular and polytylote forms are to be found (Fig. 13A). Rabdhotylostyles with heads as above, 147(242)705 × 1.5 (2.7) 4 μm (Fig. 13B); oxeas long, sinuous and thin, 460 (757) 1118 × 1.5 (2.5) 5 mm (Fig. 13C); acanthoxeas slightly curved or bent, uniformly spined, 42.5 (51.8) 62.5 × 1.5 (1.8) 2 μm (Fig. 13D).

Distribution and discussion.

This species, originally described from a superficial cave of the Gulf of Naples ( Sarà 1958) was recorded at 60-70 m depth in the same area ( Sarà and Siribelli 1962) and in caves close to Marseille ( Pouliquen 1972). It is a Mediterranean endemic species ( Pansini and Longo 2008) and a new finding for the Ligurian Sea and the coralligenous community.