Mycale (Carmia) confundata ( De Laubenfels, 1954 )

Van, Rob W. M., Aryasari, Ratih & De, Nicole J., 2021, Mycale species of the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Porifera, Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida), Zootaxa 4912 (1), pp. 1-212 : 81

Mycale (Carmia) confundata ( De Laubenfels, 1954)

Oxycarmia confundata De Laubenfels, 1954: 155 , text fig. 101.

Summary description. Thin red crust on sponge Neopetrosia pandora De Laubenfels, 1954 [junior synonym of N. chaliniformis ( Thiele, 1903) ]. Skeleton not clearly described (lots of foreign oxeas obscured the structure), but bundles of ‘tylostyles’ and a ‘protoplasmic dermis’ suggest membership of subgenus Carmia . Spicules mycalostyles of 225 x 1 µm, a single category of anisochelae of 20 µm (rosettes were not reported), two size categories of sigmas, 70 and 20 µm, toxas possibly in two size categories, 130–235 and 60 µm, raphides drawn in a small bundle (so possibly raphidotoxas), 60–120 x 0.3 µm.

Distribution. Pohnpei, Federate States of Micronesia (East Caroline Islands), 5 m depth.

Comment. The genus Oxycarmia De Laubenfels, 1954 is confirmed here to be a junior synonym of Mycale (Carmia) as already proposed by Van Soest & Hajdu (2002: 679). The present species still needs re-examination in order to properly delimit it from other Mycale (Carmia) species from the region.