Clathrina cylindractina, KLAUTAU, 1994

Klautau, Michelle & Valentine, Clare, 2003, Revision of the genus Clathrina (Porifera, Calcarea), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 139 (1), pp. 1-62 : 24-25

CLATHRINA CYLINDRACTINA KLAUTAU , SOLÉ- CAVA &

BOROJEVIC, 1994

Type locality: Arraial do Cabo , Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Type: BMNH 1999.9 .16.21 (holotype /alcohol). Arraial do Cabo (Anjos Beach), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Collected by G. Muricy (20 August 1987) .

Citations: Klautau & Borojevic (2001).

Colour: White both when alive and preserved.

Description: Cormus very delicate, formed of large, irregular and loosely anastomosed tubes. No watercollecting tubes are present, and oscula are present throughout all the cormus as simple openings on the tubes.

The wall of the tubes is thin (25 Mm). Its skeleton has no special organization, comprising only equiangular and equiradiate triactines ( Fig. 17A ). Sometimes, it is possible to find a few tetractines. Actines are straight and cylindrical or slightly conical, with blunt tips.

Found in cryptic habitats, such as under rocks or even on other organisms, protected against light and wave action.

Remarks: Morphologically similar to another sympatric species, C. conifera . However, the size of the spicules and the shape of the actines (cylindrical in C. cylindractina and conical in C. conifera ) serves to distinguish them. These morphological differences were confirmed genetically by electrophoretic analysis, which showed that no gene flow occurred between them ( Klautau et al., 1994).

Figures

Figure 17. Clathrina cylindractina. Triactines. Scale bar = 100 Mm.