Sponges of the Guyana Shelf
Author
Van, Rob W. M.
text
Zootaxa
2017
1
1
225
journal article
37320
10.5281/zenodo.272951
e2c88f4c-3ac2-45f9-95e4-99b75561a081
1175-5326
272951
6D68A019-6F63-4AA4-A8B3-92D351F1F69B
Callyspongia (Callyspongia) scutica
sp. nov.
Figures 13
a–c, 14a–f
Callyspongia
aff.
diffusa
sensu
Johnson 1971
: 107
, fig. 9 (not:
Cladochalina diffusa
Ridley, 1884
)
Material examined.
Holotype
,
RMNH
Por. 9874,
Suriname
, ‘
Snellius O.C.P.S.
’
Guyana
Shelf Expedition, station F46,
6.312°N
56.57°W
, depth
25–29 m
, bottom sand,
7 May 1966
.
Paratype
RMNH
Por. 9968,
Suriname
, ‘
Snellius O.C.P.S.
’
Guyana
Shelf Expedition, station G56,
7.26°N
56.6667°W
, depth
67–68 m
, Agassiz trawl,
10 May 1966
.
Additional (non-type) specimens.
RMNH
Por. 6307, 9366,
Guyana
, ‘Luymes’
Guyana
Shelf Expedition, station 107,
7.7°N
57.5°W
, depth
65 m
, muddy sand bottom with shells,
5 September 1970
;
RMNH
Por. 9332,
Guyana
, ‘Luymes’
Guyana
Shelf Expedition, station 65,
7.55°N
57.0833°W
, depth
63 m
, sandy bottom,
31 August 1970
;
RMNH
Por. 9396, 9865, 10502,
Suriname
, ‘
Snellius O.C.P.S.
’
Guyana
Shelf Expedition, station F45,
6.4417°N
56.5467°W
, depth
34 m
,
Van Veen
grab,
7 May 1966
;
RMNH
Por. 9873, 10515,
Suriname
, ‘
Snellius O.C.P.S.
’
Guyana
Shelf Expedition, station F46,
6.312°N
56.57°W
, depth
25–29 m
, bottom sand,
7 May 1966
;
RMNH
Por. 9883, 9967,
Suriname
, ‘
Snellius O.C.P.S.
’
Guyana
Shelf Expedition, station G56,
7.26°N
56.6667°W
, depth
67–68 m
,
Agassiz
trawl,
10 May 1966
;
RMNH
Por. 9897, 9913,
Suriname
, ‘
Snellius O.C.P.S.
’
Guyana
Shelf Expedition, station G7,
7.28°N
56.7933°W
, depth
64 m
, bottom sand,
7 May 1966
;
RMNH
Por. 9959, 9962, 9976, 9986,
Suriname
, ‘
Snellius O.C.P.S.
’
Guyana
Shelf Expedition, station F40,
7.0033°N
56.4417°W
, depth
59 m
, bottom sand,
6 May 1966
.
Examined for comparison. BMNH 1969.7.1.2,
Callyspongia
aff.
diffusa
sensu
Johnson 1971
, Brazil (labeled as ‘
Cladochalina
diffusa’).
FIGURE 13.
Callyspongia (Callyspongia) scutica
sp. nov.
, a, habitus of holotype RMNH Por. 9874 (scale bar = 1 cm), a1, detail of branches of a (scale bar = 1 cm), b, habitus of paratype RMNH Por. 9968 (scale bar = 1 cm), c, SEM images of oxeas of holotype RMNH Por. 9874.
FIGURE 14.
Callyspongia (Callyspongia) scutica
sp. nov.
, holotype RMNH Por. 9874, a–d, SEM images of skeleton, a, overview of surface with oscule, b, cross section of branch, c, detail of ‘double’ surface skeleton, d, cross section of peripheral skeleton, e–f, lightmicroscopic images of skeleton, e, surface skeleton showing unispicular spicule network, f, cross section of choanosomal skeleton showing rectangular reticulation of paucispicular fibers.
Description.
Erect, arborescent sponges (
Figs 13
a,a1,b), with long, sparingly dividing, often somewhat flattened, branches. There is a tendency to have the branches in one plane. Branch ending swollen, but terminally pointed. Size up to
25 cm
high,
8 cm
wide, individual branches
4–10 mm
in diameter. Outline of the branches undulating, with flush oscules of
1–2 mm
diameter arranged predominantly on the sides of the branches, on top of the undulations. Surface shiny smooth, unbroken, but with subdermal reticulation faintly visible beneath the skin. Color in alcohol golden red-brown. Consistency firm, resilient.
Skeleton.
Typical of subgenus
Callyspongia
: at the surface a neat tangential ‘double’ fiber reticulation (
Figs 14
a,c,e), with thicker fibers of 15–30 µm thick, enclosing meshes of 250–350 µm, subdivided into triangular to polygonal meshes of 80–120 µm in diameter formed by thin fibers of 4–10 µm thick. In the choanosome there is a regular rectangular fiber skeleton (
Figs 14
b,d,f), with ascending fibers 30–125 µm in thickness, interconnecting fibers 20–40 µm in thickness, enclosing meshes of 250–750 µm in size. All fibers are cored, at the surface with 1–3 spicules, in the choanosomal ascending fibers up to 5 spicules, interconnecting fibers with 3–4 spicules.
Spicules.
Oxeas only.
Oxeas (
Fig. 13
c), fusiform, sharply pointed, slightly curved, 81–
104
–114 x 3.5–
5.1
–7 µm.
Distribution and ecology.
Guyana
Shelf, on sandy bottoms at
25–68 m
depth.
Etymology.
Scutica
(L.), a noun in apposition, meaning whip, lash or strap, referring to the ‘cat o’nine tails’ shape of the sponge.
Remarks.
There can be little doubt that Johnson’s (1971)
Callyspongia
aff.
diffusa
is a specimen of the present new species. She described a ramose specimen with oscules on the sides of the flattened branches. Total length of the specimen was
35 cm
. Skeletal details and spicule sizes as observed in the BMNH slide also match.
Cladochalina diffusa
Ridley, 1884
was originally described from
Singapore
and is a cushion-shaped sponge, unlike the present species.
There is also a distinct similarity with
Callyspongia pergamentacea
(
Ridley, 1881
)
, originally described from SE
Brazil
as
Chalina armigera
var.
pergamentacea
, but subsequently reported from NE
Brazil
by
Collette & Rützler (1977)
and Hajdu
et al.
(2011). This is a flattened smooth, semi-erect
Callyspongia
, which appears to be also a member of the subgenus
Callyspongia
. Like the ramose specimens described above, it has the oscules on elevated rows along the margin of the lamellate habitus. Oxeas are shorter and thinner than in the present specimens, and the oscules have a slight margin and are larger (
3 mm
or more in diameter). The new species is likely closely related to
C. (C.) pergamentacea
, but the long branches of the present specimens and the larger and fatter oxeas preclude their conspecificity.
Other ramose
Callyspongia
species reported from the Central West Atlantic are
Callyspongia (Cladochalina) armigera
(Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864)
,
Callyspongia (Callyspongia) arcesiosa
De Laubenfels, 1936
(type specimen USNM 22525 reexamined),
Callyspongia (Cladochalina) tenerrima
Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864
, and
Callyspongia (Callyspongia) strongylophora
Hartman, 1955
. The first two are repent, non-erect, and their surface is conulose, both remaining species have thinly strongylote spicules (the spicules of
C. arcesiosa
are also very thin, but appear to be oxeas). All four have distinctly different habitus and skeleton.