Aplysina mollis var. aruensis Hentschel, 1912

Van Soest, Rob W. M., 2024, Correcting sponge names: nomenclatural update of lower taxa level Porifera, Zootaxa 5398 (1), pp. 1-122 : 13

Aplysina mollis var. aruensis Hentschel, 1912

Aplysina mollis var. aruensis Hentschel, 1912: 436 (no illustration).

The variety was described by Hentschel from two stations of the Merton Expedition to the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia, Stat.12, W of Mimien, 6.2985°S 134.7609°E, depth 15 m, and Stat. 13, eastern half of Sungi Barkai, 6.2946°S 134.1438°E, depth 15 m (syntypes SMF 1625 (Mimien specimens), no data on Sungi Barkai specimen(s). The differences with the typical variety, Aplysina mollis Row (1911: 376 from Aigiq Harbor, Sudan, approximate coordinates 18.28°N 38.3°E, holotype BMNH 1912.2.1.88) is minimal, only the ‘unimportant’ presence of foreign material in the fibers of the present variety was apparently reason for Hentschel to distinguish it as distinct from the holotype of Row’s Red Sea specimen. No other differences were noted by Hentschel, who emphasized the similarities between the two varieties. I propose to merge the two and recognize only a single species, to be named Suberea mollis ( Row, 1911) .