Haliclona (Gellius) violacea De Laubenfels, 1950

Van, Rob W. M., Kaiser, Kirstie L. & Syoc, Robert Van, 2011, Sponges from Clipperton Island, East Pacific, Zootaxa 2839, pp. 1-46 : 31-32

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.320220

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5623679

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0D0987D3-FFFE-FFDC-20A6-12F8EB6EFF42

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Haliclona (Gellius) violacea De Laubenfels, 1950
status

 

Haliclona (Gellius) violacea De Laubenfels, 1950 View in CoL

( Figs 14 View FIGURE 14 A–D)

Haliclona enamela sensu De Laubenfels, 1939 View in CoL (not: Haliclona enamela De Laubenfels, 1930 View in CoL ). Toxadocia violacea De Laubenfels, 1950: 16 , fig. 9.

Material examined. USNM 22658 Clipperton Island, shore collecting on rocks, to south of landing place, coll. W.L. Schmitt, July 21, 1938, nr. 9, ‘Presidential Cruise 1938, Honorable Franklin D. Roosevelt, donor’ ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 A).

Description. Encrusting sponge with small lobes, several of which bear a terminal oscule ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 A). Size approx. 3.5 x 2 x 1 cm. Consistency soft, limp. Color (alcohol) light pinkish brown.

Skeleton ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 B). Largely unispicular, but rather irregular, due to virtual absence of nodal spongin.

Spicules. Oxeas and toxas.

Oxeas ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 C), of the characteristic Haliclona form, slightly curved, sharply pointed, 93– 105.1 –119 x 3 – 3.6 –4.5 µm.

Toxas ( Fig. 14 View FIGURE 14 D), thin, variably curved, in a wide size range, 34– 42.2 – 63 x 0.5 µm.

Ecology and distribution. On intertidal coral rocks. Known from Île Clipperton and Hawaii (Oahu).

Remarks. We were able to compare a fragment of the type from Hawaii (USNM 22752) with the present specimen and this conforms in most details to De Laubenfels’ type. Habit and size of the sponge, unispicular skeleton with little or no spongin, size and shape of oxeas, size and shape of toxas. The only difference appeared to be the thicker toxas (1 µm against 0.5 µm in the present material). The live color is not preserved in the fragment of the type, nor in the Clipperton material, but we assume the specimen to have had a violet live color.

It is not clear why De Laubenfels (1939) assigned the specimen to the Central Californian Haliclona enamela De Laubenfels (1930) . This species does not possess toxas and is otherwise also dissimilar (spongin rich skeleton with ascending fibers cored by 8–12 spicules, cf. De Laubenfels 1932: 119).

A second Central Pacific Haliclona species with toxas is the sponge originally described as Toxadocia tyroeis De Laubenfels (1954a) from Palau. This has a cheesy consistency and a dense mass of oxeas of two size classes, quite unlike the present material.

USNM

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Porifera

Class

Demospongiae

Order

Haplosclerida

Family

Chalinidae

Genus

Haliclona

Loc

Haliclona (Gellius) violacea De Laubenfels, 1950

Van, Rob W. M., Kaiser, Kirstie L. & Syoc, Robert Van 2011
2011
Loc

Haliclona enamela sensu De Laubenfels, 1939

Laubenfels 1950: 16
1950
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