Timea

Van, Rob W. M., 2009, New sciophilous sponges from the Caribbean (Porifera: Demospongiae), Zootaxa 2107, pp. 1-40 : 14

Key to the Timea species of the Central West Atlantic

This is to supplement the key provided in Lehnert & Heimler (2001) which covered the North Atlantic and Mediterranean and included some additional genera. Species included here are all thin encrustations and all have single tylostyles, perpendicular to and protruding beyond the surface, and an ectosomal crust of euasters. T. innocens Schmidt (1870) (unrecognizable), T. authia sensu de Laubenfels (1956, no description), T. agnani Boury-Esnault (1973, possibly a Cyamon ), and T. stelligera ( Carter, 1882, probably not a proper Timea ) are not included.

1 Single category of aster ................................................................................................................................................ 2

- Two or more categories of asters .................................................................................................................................. 3

2 Large oxyspherasters only .......................................................................... T. unistellata sensu Pulitzer-Finali (1986)

- Small tylasters only....................................................................................................................................... T. perastra

3 Three categories of asters, one tylaster and two oxyaster categories ................................................. T. bioxyasterina

- Two categories of asters, usually a larger and smaller category................................................................................. 4

4 Large category with proliferated rays .......................................................................................................................... 5

- Large category with simple rays ................................................................................................................................... 6

5 Large category with branching rays, proliferated at their endings, small category tylaster ...... T. curacaoensis n. sp.

- Large category with unbranched proliferated rays, small category oxyasters................................................................ ................................................................................................................. T. stellifasciata sensu Boury-Esnault (1973)

6 Small aster category tiny (2–3 µm) with proliferated rays, larger asters spherasters ............................... T. micraster

- Small aster category with normal rays, larger asters oxyasters .................................................................................. 7

7 Asters a combination of small tylasters or strongylasters (chiasters) and large oxyasters .......................................... 8

- Asters a combination of small and large oxyasters ................................................................................. T. stenosclera

8 Strongylasters (chiasters) all less than 10 µm ..................................................... T. mixta sensu Wiedenmayer (1977)

- Strongylasters or tylasters> 10 µm .............................................................................................................................. 9

9 Small asters are strongylasters (chiasters) .................................................................................................... T. hechteli

- Small asters are tylasters............................................................................................................................. T.parasitica