Aplysina, Nardo, 1834

Diaz, M. C., Soest, Van, Rützler, K. & Guzman, H. M., 2005, Aplysina chiriquiensis, a new pedunculate sponge from the Gulf of Chiriquí, Panamá, Eastern Pacific (Aplysinidae, Verongida), Zootaxa 1012 (1), pp. 1-12 : 2-3

Genus Aplysina, Nardo, 1834

[Aplasia] Nardo, 1833 (preoccupied). Aplysina Nardo, 1834 . Fistularia Bowerbank, 1844 . Verongia Bowerbank, 1845 . Luffaria Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864 .

Type species. Aplysina aerophoba Schmidt, 1862 (by subsequent designation; de Laubenfels, 1948).

Diagnosis. Aplysinidae characterized by a regular skeleton network of polygonal meshes made of one size class of single fibers. Fibers are amber­colored and have a laminated bark and a pith that appears black in transmitted light. Both bark and pith are free of inclusions of foreign material. Specimens of most species turn from yellowish to dark brown, purple or black by an oxidative reaction when exposed to air.

Remarks. The latest review of the genus is found in Bergquist and Cook (2002).

Distribution. Mediterranean, Caribbean, South­Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, South Australia.