Hyattella cavernosa (Pallas, 1766)

Ugalde, Diana, Gómez, Patricia & Simões, Nuno, 2015, Marine sponges (Porifera: Demospongiae) from the Gulf of México, new records and redescription of Erylus trisphaerus (de Laubenfels, 1953), Zootaxa 3911 (2), pp. 151-183 : 176

Hyattella cavernosa (Pallas, 1766)

( Fig. 20 A–B)

Selected synonymy: Spongia cavernosa Pallas, 1766:394 .

Hyatella intestinalis ; van Soest 1978:23; Pulitzer-Finali 1986:177; Zea 1987:34. Non Hyatella intestinalis (Lamarck, 1814) (a valid species from Indian Ocean). Hyattella cavernosa ; Lehnert & van Soest 1999:165; Alcolado 2002:69.

Material examined. CNPGG –583 and CNPGG –588 Sisal Banks reefs (21°26’16.59”N, 90°16’39”W), depth 15 m, 1/XII/2011. CNPGG –1290 Alacranes reef (22º23’42.7”N, 89º42’20”W), depth 5 m, 1/VIII/2011.

Description. Massive-lobulate sponge covered with algae and sediment ( Fig. 20 A), or massive with irregular branches, with the massive part 12 cm in length, 10 cm width, the branch being 11 cm high, 1.6–3.5 cm in diameter. The surface exhibits deep elongated cavities covered by a thin ectosome, usually smooth in the massive part, finely conulose on the branches. The consistency is flexible and very compressible but tough to cut. The color is gray to dark brown when alive, turning to dark brown outside and yellow inside when preserved.

Skeleton. In the interior, the choanosome, it is markedly cavernous. There it consists of an irregular polygonal reticulation ( Fig. 20 B), with light yellow fibres 50–75 µm. The fibres usually are clear of detritus, but in places are cored by foreign material (spicules or sand). Meshes are 80–500 µm in diameter.

Distribution and ecology. Florida (de Laubenfels 1936), Brazil ( Boury-Esnault 1973); Bahamas ( Wiedenmayer 1977); Greater Antilles (van Soest 1978); Colombia ( Zea 1987); Cuba (Alcolado 2002); in shallow coral reef waters (5 m depth), among seagrass, Thalassia sp., or buried in the sandy substratum. The present specimens constitute the first record of the species for Mexico and the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Remarks. Hyattella cavernosa has been confused with Hyatella intestinalis (Lamarck, 1814) from the Indian Ocean, as both species are massively encrusting with fistular growths, although the latter species grows with longer branches coalescing in many places, thus forming an irregular net or lamella producing a cup. The skeleton of H. intestinalis consists of a dense network, with primary fibres 100 µm in diameter and very little coring; the secondary fibres are 42 µm in diameter ( Cook & Bergquist 2002). Moreover, H. intestinalis should be separated from H. cavernosa on account of the distant geographic areas of occurrence.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Hyatella cavernosa (Pallas, 1766): A. Specimen preserved in alcohol. B. Irregular polygonal reticulation of spongin fibres in choanosomal skeleton. Dysidea variabilis (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864): C. Specimen preserved in alcohol. D. Choanosomal arrangement consisting of an irregular reticulation made of foreign material like sand or spicules bound by spongin.