Leucetta floridana ( Haeckel, 1872 )

Lanna, Emilio, Cavalcanti, Fernanda F., Cardoso, Lilian, Muricy, Guilherme & Klautau, Michelle, 2009, Taxonomy of calcareous sponges (Porifera, Calcarea) from Potiguar Basin, NE Brazil, Zootaxa 1973, pp. 1-27 : 7-9

Leucetta floridana ( Haeckel, 1872)

Synomyms. Leucaltis floridana, Haeckel 1872: 144 ; Dyssycus floridanus Haeckel, 1872: 144 ; Lipostomella floridana Haeckel 1872: 144 ; Amphoriscus floridanus Haeckel 1872: 144 ; Leucaltis pura Haeckel 1872: 144 ; Leucaltis impura Haeckel 1872: 144 ; Leucilla floridana, Jenkin 1908: 453 (to be verified sensu Borojevic & Klautau 2000); Leucetta floridana, Dendy & Row 1913: 734 (generic reallocation), de Laubenfels 1950: 146; Burton 1963: 46 (proposed as junior synonym of L. microraphis Haeckel, 1872 ); Leucetta microraphis Tanita 1942: 111 ; Leucetta microraphis Borojevic & Peixinho 1976: 1003 ( Leucetta floridana after Borojevic & Klautau 2000); Leucetta aff. floridana, Lehnert & van Soest 1998: 99; Leucetta sp., Moraes et al. 2003: 117.

Type material. Haeckel’s original specimens of L. floridana are lost ( Burton 1963).

Type locality. Florida ( U.S.A.).

Material examined. UFPEPOR 200, 201, 202, Potiguar Basin, station A4 (04º37’31.7”S – 36º46’00.7”W), depth: 70–101 m, coll. R/V Astro Garoupa, trawling, 14/XI/2003. UFPEPOR 540, Risca das Bicudas, Caissaras, Rio Grande do Norte state (04º57’00.9”S – 36º07’49.7”W), depth: 10 m, coll. F. Moraes, 05/III/2007. UFPEPOR 634, Urca do Tubarão, Guamaré, Rio Grande do Norte state (04º50’52.7”S – 36º27’02.1”W), depth: 10 m, coll. G. Muricy, 03/III/2007. UFPEPOR 610, Risca das Bicudas, Caissaras, Rio Grande do Norte state (04º57’00.9”S – 36º07’49.7”W), depth: 10 m, coll. G. Muricy, 05/III/ 2007.

Description. Sponges light blue in life and beige to dark brown in ethanol. They are relatively large, massive, and lobate (Fig. 4A). The largest specimen measures 8.0 x 8.0 x 3.0 cm. Consistency is hard, often incompressible, texture is rough, and surface is ridged. The osculum is localised on the top of elevations and has no crown. The aquiferous system is leuconoid, with subspherical chambers and atrial cavity with circular openings of the exhalant canals (Fig. 4B).

The skeleton has no special organisation. It is composed of two size categories of equiangular and equiradiate triactines (I and II) and tetractines (I and II) (Fig. 4C). The most abundant spicules are the small triactines (triactines I), while the largest category of tetractines (tetractines II) is very rare in some specimens. Triactines II and tetractines II are mainly concentrated in the cortex, laying tangentially to the surface (Fig 4C), with the apical actine of tetractines penetrating the choanosome. Triactines II and tetractines II are also present in the choanosome, but the most abundant spicules in that region are the triactines I. Triactines I and tetractines I form the walls of subcortical lacunae, choanosomal canals, and the atrium, where they are mainly sagittal. The apical actine of tetractines I, which can be conical or cylindrical, protrudes into exhalant canals and into the atrium (Fig. 4D).

Spicules ( Table 3). Triactines I: equiradiate and equiangular or slightly sagittal. Actines are conical, with blunt tips [98.8–148.5 (±12.8)–210.6 / 14.8 (±1.0) µm (n = 6 specimens)] (Fig. 4E). Triactines II: equiradiate and equiangular. Actines are conical, with sharp tips [184.1–460.7 (±74.6)–920.5 / 57.2 (±13.0) µm (n = 6 specimens)] (Fig. 4F). Tetractines I: equiradiate and equiangular or slightly sagittal. Actines are cylindrical or conical, with sharp tips [90.0–140.3 (±10.2)–210.0 / 13.8 (±0.9) µm (n = 6 specimens)]. The apical actine is shorter than the basal ones, straight, conical and sharp [18.2–45.4 (±11.0)–105.0 / 6.8 (±0.9) µm (n = 3 specimens)] (Fig. 4G). Tetractines II: equiradiate and equiangular, rare. Actines are conical, with sharp tips [666.9–815.1 (±130.7)–938.6 / 135.9 (±12.4) µm (n = 1 specimen, 5 spicules)] (Fig. 4H).

Known distribution. Atlantic Ocean: U.S.A. (Florida; Haeckel 1872), Bermuda (de Laubenfels 1950), Jamaica (Lehnert & van Soest 1998), Brazil (Abrolhos Archipelago; Tanita 1942; NE and SE coasts: Pará, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Rocas Atoll, Pernambuco, Paraíba, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo; Borojevic & Peixinho 1976), Wasin (East Africa; Jenkin 1908; to be confirmed).

Ecology. Sponge photophilous, living on horizontal substrata. Some specimens were found associated to Agelas sp. (Demospongiae).

Remarks. Borojevic & Peixinho (1976) identified specimens from Brazil (including Rio Grande do Norte state) as Leucetta microraphis Haeckel, 1872 , since L. floridana had been synonymised to L. microraphis by Burton (1963). In 2000, Borojevic & Klautau suggested that this synonymy should be revised, and that L. floridana probably had an Atlantic distribution, while L. microraphis would be restricted to the Pacific. Recently, Va ld e rr am a et al. (in press) have compared, through DNA sequencing (ribosomal transcribed spacers, ITS1 and ITS2) and morphological analyses, samples of Leucetta cf. floridana from the Atlantic (Caribbean and Brazil) with Leucetta microraphis from the Pacific ( Australia and New Caledonia). Both molecular and morphological results confirmed the validity of L. floridana and its presence in the Caribbean and Brazil. Moreover, a second species of Leucetta in Brazil was found. This new species is described next.

Min Mean s Max Mean s Triactine I

UFPEPOR 200 140.4 160.7 11.4 187.2 15.0 2.3 30 UFPEPOR 201 114.4 146.0 17.8 174.2 14.8 2.1 20 UFPEPOR 202 126.0 160.8 16.1 192.0 16.3 1.9 30 UFPEPOR 540 110.0 131.8 13.1 175.0 13.2 1.7 30 UFPEPOR 610 98.8 159.8 25.5 210.6 14.0 2.4 30 UFPEPOR 634 109.3 131.9 13.0 182.2 15.5 2.1 30 All specimens 98.8 148.5 12.8 210.6 14.8 1.0 - Triactine II

UFPEPOR 200 325.5 453.1 82.4 577.5 48.0 13.1 20 UFPEPOR 201 184.1 581.2 246.2 920.5 61.8 29.6 20 UFPEPOR 202 234.0 456.8 184.8 795.0 53.2 33.5 30 UFPEPOR 540 271.7 523.6 184.9 839.8 79.7 35.5 20 UFPEPOR 610 283.5 371.4 51.6 504.0 38.2 12.0 30 UFPEPOR 634 220.0 377.8 161.7 870.0 62.5 32.3 30 All specimens 184.1 460.7 74.6 920.5 57.2 13.0 - Tetractine I

UFPEPOR 200 basal 117.0 152.6 18.8 192.4 13.4 1.7 20 UFPEPOR 201 109.2 139.1 17.9 182.0 13.5 1.5 20 UFPEPOR 202 90.0 150.8 28.6 210.0 14.1 3.0 30 UFPEPOR 540 105.0 130.9 15.8 160.0 12.5 2.3 30 UFPEPOR 610 106.6 144.3 16.2 169.0 15.5 2.9 30 UFPEPOR 634 97.2 124.4 16.7 160.4 13.5 2.2 30 All specimens 90.0 140.3 10.2 210.0 13.8 0.9 - UFPEPOR 200 apical 28.6 48.1 9.3 65.0 5.6 2.8 20 UFPEPOR 201 18.2 30.8 8.1 46.8 7.7 2.4 20 UFPEPOR 202 27.0 57.4 22.3 105.0 7.0 1.7 30 All specimens 18.2 45.4 11.0 105.0 6.8 0.9 - Tetractine II

UFPEPOR 540 basal 666.9 815.1 130.7 938.6 135.9 12.4 5