Siphonodictyon crypticum ( Carballo, Hepburn, Nava, Cruz-Barraza & Bautísta-Guerrero, 2007 )

Pacheco, Cristian, Carballo, José Luis, Cortés, Jorge, Segovia, Johanna & Trejo, Alejandra, 2018, Excavating sponges from the Pacific of Central America, descriptions and a faunistic record, Zootaxa 4370 (5), pp. 451-491 : 483-484

Siphonodictyon crypticum ( Carballo, Hepburn, Nava, Cruz-Barraza & Bautísta-Guerrero, 2007)

Material examined. ICMARES.UES.CI.71: Playa el Faro, Los Cóbanos, El Salvador, 1.5 m, 24.X.2016, coll. Sofía Solórzano, det. José Luis Carballo.

External morphology. Endolithic sponge with three small fistulose tubes of 1.8 x 0.9 cm approximately ( Fig. 37). Color of fistules and choanosome white in life.

Excavation. Erosion extended multicamerate. Sponge scars with faint concentric ridges characteristic for Siphonodictyon ( Fig. 38A ), diameters between 35 and 85 µm.

Spicules. Megascleres smooth, acerate oxeas, centrally slightly curved ( Fig. 38B ). Microscleres absent. Oxea dimensions: 73–188 µm (x̅ =123.3, σ=35.6) x 3–11 µm (x̅ =4.9, σ=2.2).

Ecology. Found at 1.5 m depth in rubble.

Distribution and previous records. S. crypticum was described by Carballo et al. (2007) from Nayarit, Mexico. Only three later reports are available and were again for the Mexican Pacific ( Carballo et al. 2008a, 2008b, 2013). The latter publication stated that abundances of S. crypticum may have increased after reef deterioration. Scott et al. (1988) listed a Siphonodictyon species for Costa Rica. However, even though S. crypticum is common in the East Pacific and to date the only Siphonodictyon species known from there (Schönberg et al. 2017), we have no means to confirm the occurrence of S. crypticum in Costa Rica. Our account is the first report for Central America and El Salvador ( Fig. 39 ).

Remarks. We presently did not provide a very comprehensive description, because of the recent date and the detail of the original description ( Carballo et al. 2007). Our material agreed well with that of Carballo et al. (2007), and further information can be taken from that publication.

Figures

FIGURE 38.Siphonodictyon crypticum: A) erosion scars, B) spicule(light microscope).

FIGURE39. Distribution of Siphonodictyon crypticum in the study area.