Raspailia (Raspaxilla) hyle ( de Laubenfels, 1930 )

Aguilar-Camacho, Jose Maria & Carballo, Jose Luis, 2013, Raspailiidae (Porifera: Demospongiae: Axinellida) from the Mexican Pacific Ocean with the description of seven new species, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 47 (25 - 28), pp. 1663-1706 : 1672-1675

Raspailia (Raspaxilla) hyle ( de Laubenfels, 1930)

( Figures 1C , 6 , 7 )

Hemectyon hyle de Laubenfels, 1930, 1932 ; Dickinson, 1945; Bakus and Green, 1987;

Green and Bakus, 1994:39–40. Aulospongus hyle Desqueyroux-Faúndez and van Soest, 1997:442 . Raspailia (Raspaxilla) hyle Hooper et al. 1999:685 . Endectyon (Endectyon) hyle Lee et al. 2007:33 , 115, 189. Holotype: USNM 21418, 16 / 02 / 1924, Puerto Fermín, San José (California, USA)

30–150 m.

Material Examined

L35609 D-17, 04 / 04 / 1935, Off Los Frailes Baja California ( MEX) 10–28 m VELERO STATION AHF 751–37 ( Dickinson 1945) .

Description

Ramose sponge with peduncle 3 cm thick and 8 cm high. Two prominent branches 2 cm in diameter and 1–3 cm long. Uneven surface with rounded lobes (1–2 mm long

and 1.3 mm high) evenly distributed. Oscules and ostia not visible. Consistency hard and difficult to tear. Colour in preservation pale beige ( Figure 1C ).

Skeleton

Straight choanosomal styles: 500–780 × 15–20 µm ( Figures 6B , 7A ). Curved subectosomal styles: 765–1200 × 8–20 µm ( Figures 6A , 7C ). Rhabdostyles microspined curved with prominent spines: 230–400 × 10–20 µm ( Figures 6C , 7C ). These spines are localized in the terminal third of the rhabdostyles. Curved ectosomal styles: 230– 395 × 1.75–2.5 µm ( Figures 6D , 7D ) ( Table 4). The ectosomal skeleton is a dense layer of styles (30–50 µm thick). There is a subectosomal extra-axial skeleton formed by the styles with the points of the spicules protruding externally. The choanosomal skeleton has an axial compressed skeleton formed by primary ascending multispicular fibres (200–300 µm thick) interconnected by bispicular or multispicular secondary fibres (20–40 µm thick). The reticulum forms rectangular irregular meshes (100–120 µm). Rhabdostyles are echinating the primary fibres ( Figure 7E ).

Remarks

Raspailia (Raspaxilla) hyle ( de Laubenfels 1930) is distributed along the West Pacific coast of Baja California Peninsula and the Pacific coast of the USA. This species was originally described in the genus Hemectyon for bearing rhabodstyles with prominent spines ( de Laubenfels 1930). Currently, Hemectyon is considered a subgenus of the genus Endectyon ( Hooper 2002) . Hooper et al. (1999) moved this species into the subgenus Raspaxilla (genus: Raspailia ) because of the axial extra-axial skeleton.

Figures

Figure 1. Photographs of preserved sponges from this study. (A) Raspailia (Parasyringella) rubra sp. nov. (B) Raspailia (Raspaxilla) hymani (Dickinson 1945). (C) Raspailia (Raspaxilla) hyle (de Laubenfels 1930). (D) Aulospongus cerebella (Dickinson 1945). (E) Aulospongus californianus sp. nov. (F) Aulospongus aurantiacus sp. nov. Scale bars: 1 cm (A, D, F); 2 cm (C, E); 4 cm (B).

Figure 6. Raspailia (Raspaxilla) hyle (de Laubenfels 1930). Scanning electron microscopy images of spicules. (A) Subectosomal style curved; (B) choanosomal style straight; (C) rhabdostyle microspined; (D) ectosomal style curved and thin. Scale bars: 100 µm (A, B, D), 60 µm (C).

Figure 7. Drawings of Raspailia (Raspaxilla) hyle (de Laubenfels 1930). (A) Choanosomal style straight; (B) rhabdostyle microspined; (C) subectosomal style curved; (D) ectosomal style thin;. (E) ectosomal skeleton (extra-axial) and choanosomal skeleton (axial). Scale bars: 40 µm (A-E), 120 µm (F).