Hymedesmia (Stylopus) perlucida, Calcinai, Barbara, Bavestrello, Giorgio, Bertolino, Marco, Pica, Daniela, Wagner, Daniel & Cerrano, Carlo, 2013

Calcinai, Barbara, Bavestrello, Giorgio, Bertolino, Marco, Pica, Daniela, Wagner, Daniel & Cerrano, Carlo, 2013, Sponges associated with octocorals in the Indo-Pacific, with the description of four new species, Zootaxa 3617 (1), pp. 1-61 : 25

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3617.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4DCCD152-65DA-44A3-AB19-59811384E1E7

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6156079

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B7DE6C-8A37-F86F-FF38-C109FC5FC251

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Hymedesmia (Stylopus) perlucida
status

sp. nov.

Hymedesmia (Stylopus) perlucida View in CoL n. sp.

( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 A–G)

Holotype material. MSNG 56264: sample Bugor 511: Indonesia, North Sulawesi, Nain Island, Jalan Masuk, 17 m, 9 September 2007.

Diagnosis. Hymedesmia (Stylopus) perlucida n. sp. is characterised by a single category of acanthostyles and by fusiform isotornotes.

Description. Very thin encrusting sponge (about <1 mm thick) growing on Paratelesto rosea ( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 A–C); only the anthocodiae are free from sponge cover ( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 C). The holotype covers a portion of a Paratelesto colony that is about 8 cm long ( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 B). Surface is macroscopically smooth. The consistency is gelatinous. Transparent in situ ( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 A) and in ethanol ( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 B), so that the red colour of the octocoral is visible through the sponge tissue; white in dried state ( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 C).

Skeleton. The ectosomal skeleton consists of confused plurispicular tracts and scattered tornotes. The choanosomal skeleton consists of single acanthostyles erect on the coral surface and paucispicular tracts of tornotes ( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 D, E).

Spicules. Isotornotes straight, fusiform, gradually thinner towards the extremities ( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 F), 147.5 – (156.5 ± 7.8) – 170 x 2.5 μm. Acanthostyles with small spines concentrated on the head and scarce along the shaft ( Fig. 15 View FIGURE 15 G), 110 – (131.7 ± 14.7) – 155 x 2.5 – (3.3 ± 1) – 5 μm.

Remarks. Among the nine species of Hymedesmia (Stylopus) of the Indo-Pacific area (van Soest et al. 2011), those closest to this new species are H. (S.) parvispicula Burton & Rao, 1932 and H. (S.) australiensis ( Hentschel, 1911) , both of which also have tornotes and acanthostyles in a single category. The other known species differ in the larger size of the spicules: H. (S.) acerata ( Topsent, 1904) has tornotes of 460–480 μm, and acanthostyles of 140–380 μm; H. (S.) dendy Burton, 1930 has tornotes of 700 x 16 μm and tylostyles of 2 mm and acanthostyles of 120–240 μm; H. (S.) indivisa Topsent, 1928 has tylotes of 420–540 μm and acanthostyles of 210–595 μm; H. (S.) obtusa Topsent, 1904 has acanthostyles of 130–230 μm and polytylote tylotes of 280 μm. H. (S.) australis ( Bergquist & Fromont, 1988) , H. (S.) lissostyla ( Bergquist & Fromont, 1988) and H (S.) oculifera ( Hentshel, 1911) have two categories of acanthostyles.

In H. (S.) parvispicula tornotes vary in shape from strongylote to amphytylotes; their size is also bigger (210 x 3 μm). Hymedesmia (S.) australiensis differs from the new species especially in the shape of the tornotes, which are characterised by swollen extremities, and in their size (176 – 192 x 2 μm).

Etymology. Named after the transparent colour of living tissues.

MSNG

Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova 'Giacomo Doria'

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Porifera

Class

Demospongiae

Order

Poecilosclerida

Family

Hymedesmiidae

Genus

Hymedesmia

SubGenus

Stylopus

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