Gastrophanella cavernicola Muricy & Minervino, 2000

Rützler, Klaus, Piantoni, Carla, Van, Rob W. M. & Díaz, Cristina, 2014, Diversity of sponges (Porifera) from cryptic habitats on the Belize barrier reef near Carrie Bow Cay, Zootaxa 3805 (1), pp. 1-129 : 53-54

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3805.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F0B7652D-6E64-44CE-9181-5A10C8D594C7

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6130316

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/C23A87C6-FF87-FFED-FF11-F88B1F9EFCEB

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Gastrophanella cavernicola Muricy & Minervino, 2000
status

 

Gastrophanella cavernicola Muricy & Minervino, 2000 View in CoL

( Figure 2 View FIGURE 2 c)

Synonymy and references. Gastrophanella implexa Schmidt, 1879 : sensu Macintyre et al., 1982: 134, fig. 83b; Gastrophanella cavernicola Muricy & Minervino, 2000: 600 , figs. 2–5.

Material. USNM 32868, Columbus Cay cave, Belize, 20 m, ceiling, 20 m from entrance; I. G. Macintyre col. 26 Apr 1979. USNM 32871, Columbus Cay cave, Belize, 18–21 m, ceiling; B. Lester col. 24 Apr 1979. USNM 32875, Columbus Cay cave, Belize, 30 m, wall; C. Feller col. 25 Jun 1983.

External morphology. Massive, lobate, up to 20 mm thick and 50 mm in diameter. Single oscula on top, up to 3 mm in diameter, with radiating vein-like canals just below the surface; small patches of ostia in surface depressions and along the sides of specimens. Surface finely rough, consistency hard, color in life cream.

Skeleton structure. In the choanosome there is a dense reticulation of fused desmas, with tylostrongyles mixed in and also radiating toward the surface where they form a disorganized palisade with tyles outward Muricy & Minervino, 2000, fig 3).

Spicules. Monocrepid desmas, 220–360 (280) Μm in diameter; tylostrongyles, 250–480 x 2.5–11.4 (358 x 6.4) Μm (measurements from Muricy & Minervino, 2000, tab. 1, figs 4, 5).

Ecology. In dark areas of caves, 3– 30 m.

Distribution. Northeast Brazil and Belize.

Comments. The “Blue Hole” record from Lighthouse Reef atoll, Belize ( Muricy & Minervino, 2000) is erroneous, due to a misunderstanding. Columbus Cay cave is a drowned karst cave, just like the famous “Blue Hole” of Lighthouse Reef some 60 km east-northeast, but its entrance tunnel on the lagoon floor (see Macintyre et al., 1982) is more like a black crack although local fishermen refer to it as “blue hole.” In Belize, Gastrophanella cavernicola has so far only been recorded from Columbus Cay cave.

USNM

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History

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