Latrunculia (Biannulata) kaakaariki Alvarez et al., 2002

Samaai, Toufiek, Gibbons, Mark J. & Kelly, Michelle, 2006, Revision of the genus Latrunculia du Bocage, 1869 Porifera: Demospongiae: Latrunculiidae) with descriptions of new species from New Caledonia and the Northeastern Pacific (, Zootaxa 1127 (1), pp. 1-71 : 59-60

Latrunculia (Biannulata) kaakaariki Alvarez et al., 2002

(Figs 6B, 7, 8G, 9D; Tables 2 & 3)

Latrunculia kaakaariki Alvarez et al., 2002 , pg. 157, Fig. 2 , 3A

Holotype material. Not examined, NZOI H­793 (99 TKI 1­5 ) NIWA collection.

Additional material. NZOI P­1258 (99 TKI 2­6), NZOI P­1259 (99 TKI 2­13), 99 TKI (1­1, 1­ 2, 1­3, 1­4, 2­2, 2­3, 2­4, 2.5). [ NIWA collection­station and locality data details are outlined in Appendix 1, Alvarez et al., (2002)].

Other material examined. NZNM POR 618 (Ts 107) , SE of Three Kings Islands , New Zealand, 34º 16.6'S, 172º 15.7'E, depth 133 m, collected by R. V. Tangaroa , 1981. Ts 9 ( MKB 721 ), Poor Knight Islands, New Zealand, depth unknown . NZNM POR 605 (TS 104) , Great Island , Three Kings Islands, New Zealand, 34º 14.8'S, 172º 13.6'E, depth 173–178 m, collected by R. V. Tangaroa, February 1981 . NZOI stn Z9243 (cross ref. Ts 58) unidentified sponge in NIWA collection, 34º 22.6'S; 172º 46.5'E, depth 44 m, Stn BG9701/64, collected by F . V. Ben Gunn , on the 28/02/1997 . NZNM Por 572 (cross ref. Ts 98) unidentified sponge in NZNM collection, Ranfurly Bank , East Cape, New Zealand, 37º 34.05'S, 178º 53.5'E, depth 39–50 m, collected 17/01/1970 by R. V. Tangaroa ( NZOI stn R 38 ) . NZNM Por 576 (cross ref. Ts 101) unidentified sponge in NZM collection, Ranfurly Bank, East Cape, New Zealand, 37º 35.01'S, 178º 51.6'E, depth 39–50 m, collected 17/01/1970 by R. V. Tangaroa ( NZOI stn R36 ) . NZNM Por 601 (cross ref. Ts 102) unidentified sponge in NZNM collection, off Three Kings Islands , New Zealand, 34º 13.0'S, 172º 14.2'E, depth 190–200 m, collected 08 th February 1984 by F . R. V. James Cook .

Diagnosis. Small to massive, semispherical sponges with flat, cylindrical oscules at the apex and no mammiform areolate porefields present ( Fig. 8G). Sand particles present on smaller specimens but absent on larger specimens. Ectosome thin, not easily separable from the underlying choanosome. Colour in life is dark green; in preservative, choanosome dark brown and ectosome brown. Styles are smooth, centrally thickened, fusiform and slightly sinuous, 382 (355–410) x 12 (12) m, n=20. Anisodiscorhabds (Fig. 6B) having a manubrium where the spines are often dichotomous and vertically arranged. There is also no basal whorl of spines present above the manubrium as characteristic for this subgenus. Median whorl midway between manubrium and apical whorl and larger than both the subsidiary and apical whorls. The subsidiary whorl is more or less perpendicular to the shaft and directly above median whorl. The whorls are deeply notched along the rim and divided into segments, each segment possessing denticulate margins of 5–7 spines. The denticulate margins of the subsidiary and median whorls are microspined, and the apical whorl and manubrium are smooth, 38(35–39) x 5 (5) m, n=20. The choanosomal skeleton is a firm, dense, irregular polygonal­meshed reticulation and the surface of the ectosome is lined with an erect layer of single non­interlocking anisodiscorhabds ( Fig. 9D ). The sponge whose habitat in shallow waters are rocky substrata found on vertical to steeply sloping rock faces always in shade and associated with algae and other sponges in coastal waters at 2–20 m depth. This species is also very abundant between 5–7 m in strong surge areas in coastal waters. The deep water samples were dredge of the coastline and they were found to occur on sandy substrata at a depth of 200 m (after Alvarez et al. 2002).

Geographic distribution ( Fig. 7 ). New Zealand (North Island)

Remark. In 1924, Brøndsted described the first species of Latrunculia from New Zealand, naming it Latrunculia spinispiraefera . Almost 40 years after that, Bergquist (1961 b; 1968), described a species collected off the Chatham Islands as L. spinispiraefera , currently considered a specimen of L. triverticillata Alvarez et al. (2002) . In 1968 Bergquist, described some additional specimens from Three Kings Islands, Cape Brett, the Champbell Plateau, and Chatham Islands as L. brevis , all of which are know considered either specimens of L. kaakaariki Alvarez et al. , L. duckworthi Alvarez et al. , L. procumbens Alvarez et al. , L. spinispiraefera Brøndsted , L. triverticillata Alvarez et al. , or L. millerae Alvarez et al. This is based on the recent discovery using a combination of genetic, chemical and morphological data ( Miller et al. 2001; Alvarez et al. 2002), that the New Zealand Latrunculia complex are represented by at least eight cryptic species, non of them belonging to the L. brevis complex ( Table 2).

Based on a combination of different techniques, Miller et al. (2001) first suggested that the two colour morphs occurring off the Three Kings Islands are actually two different species. Alvarez et al. (2002) named the ‘Three Kings’ green specimens as L. Kaakaariki and the ‘Three Kings’ brown as L. duckworthi . L. kaakaariki seems to be closely related to L spinispiraefera based on the structure of the anisodiscorhabd.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Worldwide distributions of Latrunculia (Latrunculia) species. Distributions of 1) Latrunculia cratera du Bocage, 2) L. bocagei Ridley and Dendy, 3) L. apicalis Ridley and Dendy, 4) L. biformis Kirkpatrick, 5) Latrunculia basilis Kirkpatrick, 6) L. brevis Ridley and Dendy, 7) Latrunculia palmata Lévi, 8) Latrunculia multirotalis Topsent, 9) Latrunculia crenulata Lévi, 10) Latrunculia ikematsui Tanita, 11) Latrunculia oxydiscorhabda Alvarez et al., 12) Latrunculia triverticillata Alvarez et al., 13) Latrunculia fiordensis Alvarez et al., 14) Latrunculia novaecaledoniae sp. nov.

FIGURE 7. Worldwide distributions of Latrunculia (Biannulata) species. Distributions of A) Latrunculia spinispiraefera Brøndsted, B) Latrunculia citharistae Vacelet, C) Latrunculia purpurea Carter, D) Latrunculia oparinae Samaai and Krasokhin; E) Latrunculia lunaviridis Samaai and Kelly; F) Latrunculia microacanthoxea Samaai and Kelly; G) Latrunculia kaakaariki Alvarez et al.; H) Latrunculia duckworthi Alvarez et al.; I) Latrunculia procumbens Alvarez et al.; J) Latrunculia wellingtonensis Alvarez et al., 2002; K) Latrunculia kaikoura Alvarez et al.; L) Latrunculia millerae Alvarez et al.; M). Latrunculia austini sp. nov.

FIGURE 9. Photomicrographs of choanosomal architectures: A. Latrunculia oparinae Samaai and Krasokhin 2002; B. Latrunculia lunaviridis Samaai and Kelly 2003; C. Latrunculia microacanthoxea Samaai and Kelly 2003; D. Latrunculia kaakaariki Alvarez et al. 2002;