Spirastrella coccinea ( Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 )

Ugalde, Diana, Fernandez, Julio C. C., Gómez, Patricia, Lôbo-Hajdu, Gisele & Simões, Nuno, 2021, An update on the diversity of marine sponges in the southern Gulf of Mexico coral reefs, Zootaxa 5031 (1), pp. 1-112 : 28

Spirastrella coccinea ( Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864)

Tables 6, 7; Figs. 20A–D , 36C

Synonymy and references: Thalysias coccinea Duchassaing & Michelotti (1864: 84) ; Spirastrella coccinea de Laubenfels (1936: 22) , de Laubenfels (1949a: 19), de Laubenfels (1950: 96), van Soest (1981: 5), Macintyre et al. (1982: 134), van Soest et al. (1983: 199), Thomas (1985: 304), Vacelet (1990: 22), Gómez 2007: 55, Rützler et al. (2009: 296), Muricy et al. (2011: 70), Alcolado & Busutil (2012: 68), Rützler et al. (2014: 37), Ugalde et al. (2015: 160), van Soest (2017: 172).

Type locality. St. Thomas .

Material examined. CNPGG-2251, Triangulo Oeste reef (20.9641°N, - 92.3019°W), 9 m depth, coll. Oscar Bocardo, 09 September 2017 ; CNPGG-2375, Banco Pera reef (20.72669°N, - 91.93481°W), 20 m depth, coll. Oscar Bocardo, 15 September 2017 ; CNPGG-2414, Isla Verde reef (19.19844°N, - 96.06863°W), 6 m depth, coll. Diana Ugalde, 28 August 2018 .

Distribution. Mexico ( Gómez 2007, 2011; De la Cruz-Francisco & Bandala-Pérez 2016; current records), Bermuda (de Laubenfels 1950) , Bahamas, US (Florida), other countries in the Caribbean Sea, Brazil ( Muricy et al. 2011).

Remarks. Spirastrella is characterized by possessing tylostyles in a variety of lenghts and spirasters of one or more types, in some cases with bifurcations in their rays. However, the length in both the spirasters and tylostyles overlapp among species, which complicates species identification. The two species have three spirasters that differ in S. coccinea for being larger than in S. mollis . Although the tylostyles are similar in length in both species, in S. coccinea they are thinner than in S. mollis . Spirastrella coccinea is a common species in the coral reefs of the GoM; it was previously recorded from the Veracruz Reef System ( Gómez 2007, 2011), and now from different coral reefs at the Campeche Bank, and additional materials from the Veracruz Coral Reef System.

Figures

FIGURE 20. Spirastrella coccinea (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2251), skeleton and spicules: A. transversal section of the skeleton, showing one tract of tylostyles; B. detail of the ectosomal region with tylostyles and spirasters; C. tylostyles and spirasters; D. 1—spirasters I, 2—spirasters II and 3—spirasters III. Scale bars: A–C = 100 µm; D = 25 µm.

FIGURE 36. In situ photographs of species analyzed in the present study: A. Cliona varians (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2188); B. Cliona flavifodina Rützler, 1974 (CNPGG-2386); C. Spirastrella coccinea (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2414); D. Spirastrella mollis Verrill, 1907 (CNPGG-2424), oscule detail zoomed in; E. Placospongia ruetzleri van Soest, 2017 (CNPGG-2391); F. Callyspongia (Callyspongia) fallax Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 (CNPGG-2239); G. Callyspongia (Chladochalina) armigera (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2179); H. Callyspongia (Chladochalina) armigera (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2223); I. Callyspongia (Chladochalina) armigera (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2399); J. Chalinula aff. molitba (de Laubenfels, 1949) (CNPGG-2359), surface detail zoomed in (arrow pointing to a specimen of Timea stenosclera Hechtel, 1969); K. Haliclona (Reniera) chlorilla Bispo, Correia & Hajdu, 2016 (CNPGG-2192); L. Haliclona (Soestella) caerulea (Hechtel, 1965) (CNPGG-2396); M. Amphimedon compressa Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 (CNPGG-2403); N. Amphimedon viridis Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 (CNPGG-2477); O. Niphates erecta Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 (CNPGG-2374), surface detail zoomed in; Scale bars, A–O = 1 cm.