Cliona cf. mucronata Sollas, 1878

Rützler, Klaus, Piantoni, Carla, Van, Rob W. M. & Díaz, Cristina, 2014, Diversity of sponges (Porifera) from cryptic habitats on the Belize barrier reef near Carrie Bow Cay, Zootaxa 3805 (1), pp. 1-129 : 28-29

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3805.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F0B7652D-6E64-44CE-9181-5A10C8D594C7

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6130274

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/C23A87C6-FFA8-FFC4-FF11-FD901D15FD57

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Cliona cf. mucronata Sollas, 1878
status

 

Cliona cf. mucronata Sollas, 1878

( Figures 2 View FIGURE 2 e, 13)

Synonymy and references. Cliona mucronata Sollas, 1878 : Thomas (1972): 347, pl. 1: 8, 8A–D.

Material. USNM 1228928, Carrie Bow Cay forereef slope, coral rock underside, 30 m; K. Ruetzler col. 26 Apr 1974. USNM 1228929, 1228930, Carrie Bow Cay forereef, spur and groove zone, Agaricia coral base, 8-10 m; K. Ruetzler col. 11 May 1975.

External morphology. Small, circular and well-separated papillae (1–3 mm), fairly large, densely spaced chambers (up to 5 mm), rounded or angular in outline. The color in life of the papillae and chambers is grayish to dull yellow or orange yellow.

Skeleton structure. Slim tylostyles are arranged brush-like in the papillae. In the chambers they are without orientation and are accompanied by a second, stout type of mucronate tylostyles.

Spicules. Tylostyles I are slender, acerate, with a small spherical but usually subterminal head, sharply pointed at the opposite end: 170–290 x 3–11 (208 x 8) Μm. Tylostyles II are short, stout, and mucronate, with a pear-shaped to spherical head that is generally slightly subterminal, with a shaft widening until it almost reaches the opposite end (where it is the thickest, thicker than the head), then narrowing abruptly to a sharp point (mucron): 110–190 x 9–18 (132 x 12) Μm (the head diameter averages 12 Μm).

Ecology. Cryptic in coral rock on the forereef, 8– 30 m.

Distribution. Previously known only from the Indian Ocean, now also in the Caribbean.

Comments. The combination of regular and mucronate spicules is quite unique and seems to justify our identification until more detailed studies of Indian Ocean and tropical Atlantic populations are available. The species’ author ( Sollas, 1878) described the presence of small spirasters but Thomas (1972) could not find these in his material from India. Presence/absence of spirasters is not unusual in clionaids. Delicate spirasters found by us in our slide preparations are foreign, attributed to a neighboring specimen (excavating stage) of Spheciospongia vesparium .

USNM

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Porifera

Class

Demospongiae

Order

Hadromerida

Family

Clionaidae

Genus

Cliona

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