Aplysina pergamentacea Hechtel, 1983 (Figs. 11 C–13)

Aplysina pergamentacea Hechtel (1983): 61 .

Holotype: YPM 9004, Piedade (near Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. 8º10' S, 34º54' W) 5 m depth, J. Laborel coll. 22/IX/1961.

Paratype: YPM 9005, Piedade (near Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. 8º10' S, 34º54' W) 5 m depth, J. Laborel coll. 22/IX/1961.

Diagnosis: Laterally compressed lamellar form, resembling an axe, with marginal oscula. Specimens stay lighter-coloured (beige) in ethanol.

Description

Laterally compressed lamellar form, resembling an axe with maximum dimensions of 7 cm in length, 5.8 cm in width and 0.8 cm in thickness, with a very narrow base (Fig. 13A). The oscula are located marginally in the sponge (Fig.13B). The surface is slightly/finely conulose. Colour after preservation in alcohol is reddishbrown. Consistency is compressible and elastic.

Skeleton: Choanosome formed by an irregular polygonal reticulation of spongin fibers (Fig. 13C), with amber coloured bark and thickness of 42–95 Μm (average 69 Μm). The pith can be black or amber, 12–30 Μm (average 19 Μm, Fig. 13D).

Distribution: Provisionally known only from Piedade, in Pernambuco State (Brazil, Fig. 11 C).

Bathymetry: Both specimens were collected at 5 m depth.

Remarks: Aplysina pergamentacea remains enigmatic, known from the two originally collected specimens only, in spite of extensive (albeit fragmentary) collecting effort undertaken all over the Brazilian Coast in the last decades. We had the opportunity to examine fragments from both the holotype and paratype, as well as a photo of the first one, and the few remaining diagnostic characters are the absence of any cylindrical branches, the possession of marginal oscula and the lighter shades of brown exhibited in ethanol. Supposing that A. pergamentacea is indeed a valid species, and endemic to the type locality, an alternative scenario could be constructed, where it could have been extinct due to the drastic environmental deterioration caused by construction of Suape Harbor (Pernambuco, Brazil) in the 1980’s (e.g. Neumann-Leitão et al., 1999).