Clathrina huahineae, Klautau & Lopes & Guarabyra & Folcher & Ekins & Debitus, 2020

Klautau, Michelle, Lopes, Matheus Vieira, Guarabyra, Bruna, Folcher, Eric, Ekins, Merrick & Debitus, Cécile, 2020, Calcareous sponges from the French Polynesia (Porifera: Calcarea), Zootaxa 4748 (2), pp. 261-295 : 271

Clathrina huahineae sp. nov.

( Fig 4 ; Table 4)

Synonym. Clathrina sp. nov. 5, Klautau et al. 2013: 449.

Etymology. From the type locality (Huahine Island).

Type locality. Fare. Huahine Island , Society Islands, French Polynesia .

Material examined. Holotype: UFRJPOR 6461 = MNHN-IP- 2018-32 — Huahine Island , Society Islands, Station SH 02 (16° 42.596’ S– 151° 02.640’ W), depth: 14 m, coll. C. Debitus, 20/VIII/2009, P99. Teavonae (Takaroa). Avatoru (Rangiroa). Mehetia. French Polynesia . Paratype: UFRJPOR 6886 = MNHN-IP- 2018-51 — Mehetia , Society Islands, Station SME02 (17°53.110’ S– 148°04.454’ W), depth: 16 m, coll. E. Folcher, 26/IV/2011, P228– SME02 . Other material: UFRJPOR 6879 = MNHN-IP- 2018-44 — Takaroa , Tuamotu Islands, Station TTAK01 (14°27.717’ S– 145°02.356’ W), depth: 12 m, coll. D. Fleurisson , 14/ V /2011 , P228- TTAK01 . UFRJPOR 6880 = MNHN-IP- 2018-45 — Rangiroa , Tuamotu Islands, Station TRAN07 (14°56.215’ S– 147°42.024’ W), depth: 30 m, coll. A. Renaud , 24/ V /2011 , P228- TRAN07 . UFRJPOR 8954 = MNHN-IP- 2018-63 — Raroia , Tuamotu Islands, Station TRAR15 (16°09.586’ S 142°31.998’ W), depth: 15 m, coll. M. Dumas , 07/XI/2018, P667- TRAR15 . UFR- JPOR 8957 = MNHN-IP- 2018-66 — Makemo , Tuamotu Islands, Station TMAK09 (16°38.948’ S– 143°33.333’ W), depth: 23 m, coll. S. Petek , 08/XI/2018, P671- TMAK09 .

Diagnosis. Yellow Clathrina with large and loosely anastomosed tubes, water-collecting tubes and triactines with very thin, cylindrical actines and rounded to blunt tips.

Colour. Yellow alive and beige in ethanol ( Fig 4A ).

Morphology and anatomy. The cormus of this species is massive but delicate, formed by large, irregular, and loosely anastomosed tubes. Large water-collecting tubes are present. Aquiferous system asconoid. The skeleton is composed of two size categories of triactines (Fig B). The triactines I are smaller ( Fig 4C ) and the triactines II are larger and more abundant ( Fig 4D ).

Spicules ( Table 4)

Triactines I. Regular (equiangular and equiradiate). Actines are conical, with sharp tips ( Fig 4C ). Size: 65/ 7.1 µm.

Triactines II. Regular (equiangular and equiradiate), subregular or parasagittal. Actines are cylindrical, very thin, with rounded to blunt tips ( Fig 4D ). The spicules with rounded tips seem to be larger. Frequently actines are undulated. Size: 142.4/ 7.5 µm.

Geographical distribution. Huahine Island, Society Islands; Teavonae (Takaroa); Avatoru (Rangiroa); Mehetia; Takaroa, Tuamotu Islands; Rangiroa, Tuamotu Islands.

Remarks. According to our molecular analysis, Clathrina huahineae sp. nov. is sister species of the Tropical Western Atlantic species C. mutabilis Azevedo et al., 2017 . They are morphologically very similar. Both are yellow and formed by large, loose and irregularly anastomosed tubes and present water-collecting tubes. Besides, they have two kinds of spicules, a regular small triactine with conical actines and sharp tips, which is less abundant, and an abundant regular, subregular or parasagittal large triactine with cylindrical actines. Their only morphological differences are the post-fixation colour, which is white in C. mutabilis and beige in C. huahineae sp. nov., and the tip of the triactines II, which are blunt to rounded in the new species and blunt to sharp in C. mutabilis . We also found a slight difference in the size of the spicules, thicker in C. mutabilis (Holotype, UFRJPOR 6526—Triactine I: 56.7–69.8–91.8/ 8.1–8.4– 9.5 µm; Triactine II: 94.5–121.7–148.5/ 6.8–8.1– 9.5 µm).

The other species of Clathrina morphologically similar to the new species are C. beckingae Van Soest & De Voogd, 2015 and C. purpurea Van Soest & De Voogd, 2015 . Unfortunately, they could not be molecularly compared because there are no ITS sequences available of those species. Both C. beckingae and C. purpurea have cormus formed by irregular and loosely anastomosed tubes, water-collecting tubes and triactines with very thin cylindrical actines (6 µm). Those species are from Indonesia and can be differentiated from C. huahineae sp. nov. by the colour, which is yellow in our species, white in C. beckingae and reddish purple in C. purpurea ( Van Soest & De Voogd 2015) . Besides, C. purpurea does not have water-collecting tubes and C. beckingae has smaller spicules (48.0–84.9–106.0/ 6.0 µm).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Clathrina huahineae sp. nov. (UFRJPOR 6461). A—Fixed specimen. B—Section. C—Triactine I. D—Triactines II.