Haliclona (Halichoclona) melissae, Turner & Lonhart, 2023

Turner, Thomas L. & Lonhart, Steve I., 2023, The Sponges of the Carmel Pinnacles Marine Protected Area, Zootaxa 5318 (2), pp. 151-194 : 177-178

Haliclona (Halichoclona) melissae sp. nov.

Figures 15 & 17

Material examined. Holotype: CASIZ236655 / IZC00048448 , Inner Carmel Pinnacle, (36.55852, -121.96820), 10– 24 m, 9/22/21; paratypes: SBMNH700919 and IZC00048446 , Whaler's Cove , Point Lobos , Carmel , (36.52172, -121.93894), 6–15 m, 11/23/19; SBMNH700927 , Wycoff Ledge , San Miguel Island , (34.02132, -120.38710), 9–19 m, 8/25/19; IZC00048447 , Tower house arches, Carmel, (36.56187, -121.95950), 9–21 m, 9/21/21.

Etymology. Named after Melissa Kamen, a close acquaintance of the first author.

Morphology. Encrusting sheets 3–4 mm thick; firm and barely compressible—not spongy as in many Haliclona (Reniera) , nor rock hard as in many Petrosiidae . Surface patterning very regular, oscules approximately 1 mm in diameter, on raised mounds approximately 1 mm in height, each 4–6 mm from next closest oscule; remaining surface patterned with mesh of visible pores. Beige in life and preserved.

Skeleton. Ectosome and choanosome comprised of an isotropic, unispicular reticulation with spongin at the nodes.

Spicules. Oxeas: more variable in width than length; thin oxeas are possibly immature. A small minority modified to styles. Holotype 108–148–162 x 2–9–12 μm (n=36), all samples pooled: 103–147–168 x 2–9–12 μm (n=146). Mean lengths per sponge 142–154 μm.

Distribution and habitat. Found at 3 of 8 shallow subtidal reefs searched from Pescadero Point, on the northern end of Carmel Bay, to the Carmel Highlands, just south of Carmel Bay, but none of the 6 locations searched in Monterey Bay. One additional sample was found at a subtidal site at San Miguel Island in Southern California; San Miguel Island is the outermost of the Channel Islands, with colder waters compared to other Southern California locations.

Remarks. The somewhat chaotic nature of the spicule reticulation, the incompressible nature of the sponge, and the hastate oxeas make this species a better match for Haliclona (Halichoclona) than Haliclona (Reniera) . The skeleton is very similar to Haliclona (Halichoclona) gellindra ( de Laubenfels, 1932) , the type species for the subgenus, whose type location is the intertidal zone in Carmel Bay. However, the oxeas of the new species are very consistently sized, with mean lengths varying from only 142–154 μm, while spicules in H. gellindra are much shorter and thinner: 105–112–122 X 6–6–7 ( De Weerdt 2002). The new species is well differentiated from other named Haliclona in the region due to skeletal structure, spicule size, and/or the presence of additional types of spicules ( Lee et al. 2007). There are undescribed species of Haliclona that have been noted in previous surveys; where sufficient information is provided to make good comparisons, they match the new species poorly. Previously sequenced species of Haliclona have been found in clades A, B, and C, with the largest number in clade A, where the new species is also found.

This species can be tentatively identified in the field in at least some habitats. Samples of this species collected to date are very consistent in form, such that they were correctly identified by the experienced collector before being examined in the lab. A common intertidal Haliclona in California, Haliclona (Haliclona) sp. A ( Hartman 1975; Lee et al. 2007), has a very similar gross morphology but much smaller spicules and a ladder-like skeleton. Haliclona melissae sp. nov. has not yet been found in the intertidal, but if it occurs there, it would likely be confused with this other species without spicule or DNA data. Other undescribed Haliclona occur in the subtidal, but those discovered thus far can be differentiated in the field because they are darker in color and much more compressible.

Figures

FIGURE 15. Maximum likelihood phylogeny of the 28S locus for the Haplosclerida. Colors indicate well-supported clades, with letter names following Redmond et al. (2013). Genbank accession numbers are shown; bold indicates new sequences. Node confidence is based on bootstrapping. Scale bar indicates substitutions per site. Colors indicate clades containing new taxa, as referenced in the text.

FIGURE 17. Haliclona melissae. A: Field photo. B: Choanosomal skeleton. C: Thick oxea. D: Surface skeleton. E: Thin oxea. All images of holotype.