Mycale lampra ( De Laubenfels, 1954 ) Van & Aryasari & De, 2021

Van, Rob W. M., Aryasari, Ratih & De, Nicole J., 2021, Mycale species of the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Porifera, Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida), Zootaxa 4912 (1), pp. 1-212 : 191-193

Mycale lampra ( De Laubenfels, 1954) comb.nov.

Figs 125 a–e, 126a–e

Desmacella lampra De Laubenfels, 1954: 150 , fig. 98. Material examined. Holotype USNM 23088 , Lemotol Bay , W Part Chuuk Lagoon, East Caroline Islands, depth 4 m, coll. M.W. De Laubenfels, ‘by diver’.

ZMA Por. 07930a, Indonesia, SE Sulawesi, Tukang Besi Islands , southern reef of Karang Kaledupa, 5.93333S 123.8°E, depth 2–6 m, snorkeling, coll . R. W.M. van Soest, Indonesian-Dutch Snellius II Expedition , stat. 16, field nr. 016 / II/22 , 6 September 1984 (dark-brown) .

Description ( Fig. 125a , 126a ). Dark-brown sponge (ZMA specimen, cf. Fig. 125a ), thinly encrusting on dead Acropora coral, with smooth surface. Preserved the color is warm beige, much lighter than in life. The holotype ( Fig. 126a ) was described as ‘fiery orange red’, it is yellow in preserved condition. No apparent oscules. Size of ZMA specimen 4 x 1 x 0.5 cm, but the holotype was 10–20 cm. Consistency soft.

Skeleton ( Figs 125 b–c, 126b,b1). The condition of the skeleton is indefinite, between the arrangement found in subgenera Aegogropila (ectosomal reticulation), Mycale (tangential ectosomal skeleton of single spicules) and Carmia (choanosomal spicule bundles thin, not interconnected, skeleton lax). Bundles of megascleres consist of 2–3 spicules and near the surface these diverge to carry the tangential reticulation. The holotype skeleton is slightly more organized, with spicule tracts thicker. Microscleres only sigmas.

Spicules ( Figs 125 d–e, 126c–e). Mycalostyles, sigmas, no anisochelae.

Mycalostyles ( Figs 125d,d 1,126d,d1), straight or slightly curved, thin, with elongate head and barely narrowed neck, 249– 272.8 –289 x 2– 3.1 – 5 µm.

Sigmas ( Figs 125e , 126c,e ), thin, symmetrically curved, with slightly incurved apices, not clearly divisible into two sizes ( Fig. 126c ), 15– 18.8 – 30 µm, those of the holotype were more elongate but had similarly incurved endings ( Fig. 126e ).

Distribution and ecology. Banda Sea, Indonesia, Chuuk Lagoon (East Caroline Islands, Micronesia), shallowwater lagoons.

Remarks. There are several ‘ Desmacella ’ species described with a skeleton and spicule shapes and sizes similar to Mycale , but lacking anisochelae. Examples are Central West Atlantic Desmacella jania Verrill, 1907 and D. meliorata Wiedenmayer, 1977 . Van Soest (1984: 27) suspected such sponges could belong to Mycale species, which lost their anisochelae or possessed these quite rarely. It is here suggested that Desmacella lampra is a Pacific representative of such deficient Mycale species. Independent support for this hypothesis is the fact that Redmond et al. ’s (2013) (p. 409, fig. 15) molecular phylogeny of the Poecilosclerida found Desmacella lampra positioned right in the middle of a clade of approximately 25 Mycale sequences belonging to at least five different subgenera, away from proper Desmacella species.

De Laubenfels’ description is slightly different from our specimen, so it is possible the two are close but not conspecific. De Laubenfels’ specimen was much larger, had a ‘fiery red-orange’ color in life. The sigmas, although in the same size range as our specimen, were suggested to be divisible into a smaller (13 µm) and a larger (30–33 µm) size. However, our fragment of the holotype did not contain these two size categories, as they were variable in size but we could not find many small sigmas. The skeleton described by De Laubenfels had only vague megasclere tracts, apparently lacking a reticulate ectosomal arrangement. We believe our specimen is likely a thinner and smaller specimen of the same species, but some doubt remains.

The subgenus affiliation is not clear. Redmond et al. ’s (2013) Desmacella lampra sequence suggested membership of subgenus Mycale (Carmia) , but only few sequences were used in the tree. Our specimen is technically a Mycale (Mycale) , but the tangential ectosomal skeleton is not typical for the subgenus as it is unispicular. The other ‘ Desmacella ’ specimens described by De Laubenfels and Wiedenmayer do not specify the ectosomal skeleton to the extent that we can classify them to a subgenus. It seems prudent to leave subgenus affiliation undecided for the time being, but subgenus Mycale (Carmia) would seem to fit best, both morphologically and molecularly.

General discussion

Figures

FIGURE 125. Mycale lampra (De Laubenfels, 1954), ZMA Por. 07930a from Karang Kaledupa, Banda Sea, Indonesia, a, preserved habitus (scale bar = 1 cm), b–c, light microscopic images of the skeleton, b, cross section through peripheral region, c, tangential view of ectosomal skeleton, d–e, SEM images of the spicules, d, mycalostyle, d1, details of mycalostyle, e, sigma.

FIGURE 126. Mycale lampra (De Laubenfels, 1954), holotype USNM 23088 from Chuuk Lagoon, Mid Pacific, a, preserved habitus of fragment (scale bar = 1 cm), b–b1, light microscopic images of cross sections of the skeleton, b, skeletal tracts, b1, detail of surface region, c–e, SEM images of the spicules, c, overview of spicules showing a variable but single size of sigmas, d, mycalostyle, d1, details of mycalostyle, e, sigma.