Rowella tubulosa Lopes & Klautau, 2023

Lopes, Matheus Vieira & Klautau, Michelle, 2023, Phylogeny and revision of Leucaltis and Leucettusa (Porifera: Calcarea), with new classification proposals and description of a new type of aquiferous system, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 198, pp. 691-746 : 735-736

ROWELLA TUBULOSA ( DENDY, 1924) COMB. NOV.

( FIGS 26, 27; TABLE 14)

Synonyms and citations: Leucettusa tubulosa – Dendy, 1924: 476; Burton, 1963: 50; Kelly et al., 2009: 45; Kelly, 2018: 20.

Type specimen: One lectotype ( BMNH 1923.10.1.2) and two paralectotypes ( BMNH 1923.10.1.3-4) .

Type locality: Near Three Kings Islands , New Zealand (34°24ʹ S, 172°06ʹ E). Three Kings–North Cape MEOW ecoregion .

Description: Sponge body tubular, cylindrical to vase-shaped and ramified at the base. The types are dark brown to black in the outer region because of the fixation with osmium tetroxide. Internally, the sponge is beige ( Fig. 26A, B). Incompressible and rough to the touch. Outer surface smooth ( Fig. 26C, D). Atrial surface hispid due to the apical actines of the tetractines ( Fig. 26E). One osculum is present at the end of each tube. They are simple circular apertures or slits without membrane ( Fig. 26B). The body wall is thick ( Fig. 26C). The atrial cavity is spacious and the excurrent canals are evident. Aquiferous system leuconoid with spherical to subspherical choanocyte chambers ( Fig. 26E). Granular cells are distributed all over the body, more frequently in the cortical and atrial surfaces ( Fig. 26F).

Skeleton: Cortical skeleton well developed, although not as thick as the choanosome ( Fig. 26C). It is comprised of several layers of tangential triactines and tetractines ( Fig. 26 C-D). Choanosomal skeleton comprised of pygmy triactines and tetractines, mostly present around canals. Large cortical spicules can also be found in the choanosome ( Fig. 26C). Pygmy spicules are also present in the atrium, lying tangentially, with tetractines being more abundant and projecting their apical actine into the atrial cavity ( Fig. 26E–F).