Dragmacidon reticulatum ( Ridley & Dendy, 1886 )

Zea, Sven & Pulido, Alejandra, 2016, Taxonomy of the Caribbean sponge Dragmacidon reticulatum (Ridley & Dendy, 1886) (Porifera, Demospongiae, Axinellida), with the description of a new species, Zootaxa 4114 (4), pp. 393-408 : 395-397

Dragmacidon reticulatum ( Ridley & Dendy, 1886)

Figs 1 A, 2A, 3A, 4; plate 1 figs. A–D, Tables 1–2

Axinella reticulata Ridley & Dendy, 1886: 481 (holotype BMNH. 1887.5.2.11, Brazil); Ridley & Dendy, 1887: 184, pl. 38, figs. 4, 4A.

[Non: Axinella reticulata ; Wells & Wells in Wells et al. 1960 (Cape Hatteras, USA) (= Axinella polycapella de Laubenfels, 1953 , fide Alvarez et al. 1998).]

Pseudaxinella reticulata ; Alvarez et al. 1998: 15 (in part; only specimens USNM 32847 from Bermudas and USNM 42787 from the Gulf of Mexico; the rest are Dragmacidon alvarezae n. sp.).

[Non: Pseudaxinella reticulata ; Castellanos et al. 2003: 1166, Table 1 (Santa Marta, Colombia; sterol phylogeny) (= Dragmacidon alvarezae n. sp.).]

Dragmacidon reticulata ; Alvarez & Hooper 2002: 734, fig. 9A (genus transfer).

[Non: Dragmacidon reticulata ; Mora-Cristancho et al. 2007: 170, Table 1 (Santa Marta, Colombia, antifouling properties); Díaz 2007: 47; Díaz & Zea 2008: 34 (Guajira, Colombia) (= Dragmacidon alvarezae n. sp.).]

Dragmacidon reticulatum ; Zea et al. 2014 ( Bahamas; Santa Marta, Colombia).

[Non: Dragmacidon reticulatum ; Zea et al. 2009 ( Bahamas); Rützler et al. 2014: 70 (Carrie Bow Cay, Belize) (= Dragmacidon alvarezae n. sp.).]

Axinella rosacea Verrill, 1907: 341 , pl. 35d fig. 12 ( Bermuda, neotype examined, BMNH 1948.8.6.37, designated by de Laubenfels, 1950: 89).

Pseudaxinella rosacea ; de Laubenfels 1950: 89, fig. 40 ( Bermuda, neotype of A. rosacea Verrill 1907 and additional material).

[Non: Pseudaxinella rosacea ; de Laubenfels 1949: 17 {= Ptilocaulis walpersi (Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864) ; fide Alvarez et al. 1998}.]

Ectyoplasia ferox explicata Wiedenmayer, 1977: 159 ( Bermuda, junior synonym of Axinella rosacea Verrill, 1907 , as its holotype was based on the same specimen BMNH 1948.8.6.37, designated as neotype by de Laubenfels 1950: 89; synonymy suggested by Alvarez et al. 1998 and confirmed herein).

Pseudaxinella explicata ; Rützler 1986: 121, fig. 32 (sponges 3), pl. 4 fig. 1 ( Bermuda; also fide Alvarez et al. 1998); Alvarez & Crisp, 1994: 119 (citation only, fide Alvarez et al. 1998); Castellanos et al. 2003: 1166, Table 1 (Santa Marta, Colombia; phylogeny based on sterols).

Dragmacidon explicatum ; Zea et al. 2009 ( Bahamas).

[Non: Pseudaxinella lunaecharta ; Wiedenmayer 1977: 155, pl. 31 figs. 7–10; pl. 32 figs. 1–3, fig. 156 (synonymy suggested by Alvarez et al. 1998; most specimens seem to belong Dragmacidon alvarezae n. sp.).]

[Non: Dragmacidon lunaecharta ( Ridley & Dendy, 1886) {as Axinella (?) (a valid species from the eastern Atlantic, fide Alvarez et al. 1998)}.]

Material examined. Brazil, Holotype: BMNH 1887.5.2.11, Off Salvador, Bahia State, 14–40 m, coll. H.M.S. Challenger. Bermuda: BMNH 1948.8.6.37, neotype of Axinella rosacea Verrill, 1907 and holotype of Ectyoplasia ferox explicata Wiedenmayer, 1977 , coll. M.W. de Laubenfels, 30 June 1937, Harrington Sound; USNM 32847 (fragment INV-POR 1260), Walsingham Pond (32°20’47.31” N, 64°42´34.16” W), 0.5–2 m, coll. J.H. Ciardellina, August 1983. Bahamas (coll. Sven Zea): voucher PBH 04, Eluthera, Egg Island (25°29’45.5” N, 76°543’20.8” W), 24 m, 27 July 2000; voucher 190 (tissue slide, 10 m, 19 June 2004), voucher 285 (12 m, 27 June 2007), Stirrup Cays, N Berry Islands (25°49’39.2” N, 77°53’497.9” W); voucher 216 (tissue slide); San Salvador (24°01.139’ N, 74°32.687’ W), 27 m, 22 June 2004. Florida east coast: voucher PFL8, Florida Keys, Long Key, 3 m, coll. Sven Zea, 19 February 1994. Continental coast of Colombia, Santa Marta: INV-POR 526 (21 m, coll. Sven Zea, 2 September 1997, voucher for Castellanos et al. 2003, as Pseudaxinella explicata ), INV-POR 880 (24 m, coll. Sven Zea & Marisol Santos-Acevedo, 18 November 2003, identified as Dragmacidon explicata ), INV-POR 1257 (12–15 m, coll. Sven Zea, 9 July 1993), Bahía de Santa Marta, Morro, SW side (11°14’57.77” N, 74°13’48.66” W); INV- POR 1258, Bahía de Chengue, NE side (11°19’47.10” N, 74°7’43.82” W), 25 m, coll. Sven Zea, 25 November 1998.

Description. Shape, color and consistency. Thickly encrusting to massive, amorphous, 5–10 cm in diameter and up to 5 cm thick, generally with rounded or conical lobes; oscules 2–5 mm in diameter, even or on top of lobes. At Santa Marta, continental coast of Colombia, it is always encrusting, up to 1 cm in thickness. Surface rugose, with microconulose hispid projections, 1–2 mm high, separated, or joined by low crests forming a slightly prismatic pattern. Live color intense red to bright orange; interior orange; cream when preserved. Consistency toughly compressible, can be broken with some force. Abundant mucus is exuded upon handling.

Skeleton. Reticulation of ascending and diverging plumose spicule tracts, 225–500 µm thick, 375–1000 µm apart, interconnected every 500–1750 µm by thinner, 75–500 µm tracts, or by sheets of confusedly arranged spicules, up to 1,500 µm wide. Ascending columns project over the surface forming the hispid projections. Spicules ( Table 1 ): (1) Styles, slightly curved, with smooth heads and pointed ends, 250–540 µm by 7.5–22.5 µm, a few robust. (2) Oxeas, slightly curved, usually slightly asymmetric, with pointed or blunt ends, 219–520 µm by 7,5–20 µm. Specimen measurements are given in Table 1 .

Distribution. Bermuda, Bahamas, Florida Gulf coast, Florida Keys, Continental coast of Colombia (Santa Marta), Brazil (Bahia).

Ecology. It inhabits shallow to deep reefs, usually in sites exposed to light, but also in overhanging and cryptic substrata. Depth range 0.5– 40 m.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Light micrographs of spicules. A) Dragmacidon reticulatum (voucher PBH- 04, Bahamas). B) Dragmacidon alvarezae n. sp. (voucher 286, Bahamas). Upper panels show styles, lower panels oxeas. Scale bars for full spicules 100 µm, for endings 20 µm.