Agelas

Parra-Velandia, Fernando J., Zea, Sven & Van Soest, Rob W. M., 2014, Reef sponges of the genus Agelas (Porifera: Demospongiae) from the Greater Caribbean, Zootaxa 3794 (3), pp. 301-343 : 302-303

The genus Agelas in the Greater Caribbean

Given its conspicuousness in the Greater Caribbean reefs, almost all major taxonomic works for this area include the common species of Agelas ( Wiedenmayer 1977; Pulitzer-Finali 1986; Zea 1987; Lehnert & van Soest 1996; 1998; 1999). In addition, some recent detailed works have added new species ( Alcolado 1984; Gotera & Alcolado 1987; van Soest & Stentoft 1988; Lehnert & van Soest 1996; Assmann et al. 2001). However, there is still a great deal of taxonomic confusion, even for the more common species, owing to: a) reliance on live external features and on too few internal characters, b) existence of geographically distinct morphotypes within some species, and c) difficulty in defining species from old, fixed, sometimes unaccounted for, type specimens.

Previous works focused in the Greater Caribbean, have included between 16 and 21 species in Agelas (respectively, van Soest et al. 2008; Assmann et al. 2001), many of which are important components of the reef biota ( Zea 1994). In this paper, we present a taxonomic revision of the genus for the Greater Caribbean area, using morphological characters, ascribing its richness to 13 species.

Samples and observations covered Colombia, Belize, Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, Curaçao and Venezuela. Only through widespread collecting efforts and detailed morphological studies, together with revision of museum material and molecular analyses ( Parra-Velandia 2011) it has been possible to begin understanding the extent of local and regional variation and to arrive at a clearer definition of species.