Clathrina aurea Solé-Cava et al., 1991

Klautau, Michelle, 2017, Taxonomy and phylogeny of calcareous sponges (Porifera: Calcarea: Calcinea) from Brazilian mid-shelf and oceanic islands, Zootaxa 4311 (3), pp. 301-344 : 316-317

Clathrina aurea Solé-Cava et al., 1991

( Figs 5 A–C; Table 6)

Synonyms. Clathrina sp. 1, Muricy et al. 1991: 1187. Clathrina aurea, Solé-Cava et al. 1991: 385 , Muricy et al. 1993: 429, Klautau et al. 1994: 401, Muricy & Moraes 1998: 215, Muricy & Silva 1999: 160, Santos et al. 2002: 398, Klautau & Borojevic 2001: 401, Klautau & Valentine 2003: 9, Monteiro & Muricy 2004: 682, Vilanova et al. 2004: 651, Moraes et al. 2006: 166, Muricy & Hajdu, 2006: 85, Lanna et al. 2007: 1554, Muricy et al. 2008: 128, Lanna et al. 2009: 4, Santos et al. 2010: 605, Rossi et al. 2011: 1028, Klautau et al. 2013: 448, Padua et al. 2013: 489, AZevedo et al. 2015: 798, Padua et al. 2016: 294.

Diagnosis. Clathrina with yellow cormus formed by irregular and loosely anastomosed tubes, no water-collecting tubes, and triactines with cylindrical and undulated actines and rounded to blunt tips.

Material examined (One specimen). Abrolhos Archipelago , Bahia State: UFRJPOR 6550, Santa Bárbara Island , Mato Verde , 2–5 m depth, coll. G. Rodríguez, 17 August 2011.

Colour. Yellow in life and cream to beige in ethanol.

Morphology. The specimen is soft and fragile. The cormus is composed of irregular and loosely anastomosed tubes ( Fig 5 A). water-collecting tubes were not observed.

Anatomy. Granular cells were absent. The skeleton has no special organization and it is composed of one category of triactines ( Fig 5 B).

Spicules ( Figure 5 ; Table 6). Triactines: Equiangular and equiradiate. Actines are cylindrical and undulated, with rounded to blunt tips ( Fig 5 C).

Specimen Spicule Length (µm) Width (µm) n

min mean sd max min mean sd max

UFRJPOR 6550 Triactine 54.0 62.5 4.4 70.0 4.1 5.4 0.4 6.8 20 Ecology. Clathrina aurea presents a patchy distribution, being found always in shaded habitats such as crevices and caves.

Distribution. This species was considered endemic to Brazil, but it was recently found in Peru (Azevedo et al. 2015) and thus has a peculiar disjunct distribution (Atlantic and Pacific) probably due to anthropogenic introduction. In the Brazilian coast it is widespread, having been recorded from São Paulo State up to Rio Grande do Norte State (e.g. Muricy & Moraes 1998; Moraes et al. 2006; Lanna et al. 2007; 2009; Moraes 2011). Here is the first citation of this species for Bahia State (Abrolhos).

Remarks. Clathrina aurea is very similar to C. clathrus . Both species have a yellow cormus and skeleton composed of triactines with rounded tips, but C. aurea has also spicules with blunt tips and does not have watercollecting tubes. In Brazil, it is the only yellow species of Clathrina recorded until now (but see below C. insularis sp. nov., C. mutabilis sp. nov., and C. lutea sp. nov.).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Clathrina aurea. A—Specimen after fixation. B—Section. C—Triactine.