Haliclona (Reniera) manglaris Alcolado, 1984

Rützler, Klaus, Piantoni, Carla, Van, Rob W. M. & Díaz, Cristina, 2014, Diversity of sponges (Porifera) from cryptic habitats on the Belize barrier reef near Carrie Bow Cay, Zootaxa 3805 (1), pp. 1-129 : 81

Haliclona (Reniera) manglaris Alcolado, 1984

Synonymy and references. Haliclona (Reniera) manglaris Alcolado, 1984 : de Weerdt, 2000: 19, figs. 2G, 3X, 8A–D.

Material. USNM 1229106, Carrie Bow Cay west, under concrete dock, 0.5 m; K. Ruetzler, col. 18 Aug 2012.

External morphology. A cushion, 5–15 mm tick and covering 75 cm 2 of substratum, with a few rope-like processes, 4 mm thick, up to 15 mm long, either with a rounded distal end or, in one case, bifurcated. Velvety surface; a few scattered, circular, 1–2 mm oscula.

Skeleton structure. Both ectosome and choanosome show a regular, isotropic reticulation of single spicules; the choanosome is cavernous.

Spicules. Fusiform oxeas, more or less curved, with sharp points: 100–150 x 3–6 (126 x 4) Μm.

Ecology. Previously only known from the submerged stilt roots of red mangrove, 0.1– 1 m.

Distribution. From the Florida Keys throughout the Caribbean.

Comments. Most specimens of this common mangrove sponge are turquoise in color but a brown variety has also been reported (de Weerdt, 2000). The latter author also listed smaller spicule dimensions (93 x 3 Μm), a difference that can be explained by the high energy environment in which our specimen was found.