Clathrina lutea, Klautau, 2017

Klautau, Michelle, 2017, Taxonomy and phylogeny of calcareous sponges (Porifera: Calcarea: Calcinea) from Brazilian mid-shelf and oceanic islands, Zootaxa 4311 (3), pp. 301-344 : 318-320

Clathrina lutea sp. nov.

( Figs 7 A–C; Table 8)

Synonyms. Leucetta sp., Moraes et al. 2003: 17 (non Leucetta ). Clathrina sp. n. 2, Moraes et al. 2006: 166. Clathrina sp. 1, Rossi et al. 2011: 1028. Clathrina sp. nov. 8, Klautau et al. 2013: 449.

Diagnosis. Clathrina with yellow cormus formed by tight and regularly anastomosed tubes, and with watercollecting tubes with large oscula. Triactines have slightly conical actines with blunt tips.

Material examined (11 specimens). Abrolhos Archipelago, Caravelas , Bahia State: Holotype: UFRJPOR 5173, Pedra Lixa reef, 7 m depth, coll. C. Zilberberg and L. Monteiro, 21 March 2005 . Paratypes: UFRJPOR 5172, UFRJPOR 5174, same data as holotype. Additional material: UFRJPOR 6543, 6544, 6545, 6548, 6549, Santa Bárbara Island , Mato Verde, 2–5 m depth, coll. G. Rodríguez, 17 August 2011 . UFRJPOR 7158, Siriba Island , 4 m depth, coll. F. Moraes, 19 March 2013 . UFRJPOR 7160, Parcel dos Abrolhos, 4 m depth, coll. F. Moraes, 18 March 2013. Rocas Atoll , Rio Grande do Norte State: MNRJ 2188 , Salão, 4 m depth, coll. F. Moraes, 28 February 1999 . MNRJ 2930, Barreta Falsa, 3 m depth, coll. F. Moraes, 22 November 1999.

Etymology. From the Latin lutea (= yellow), from the bright yellow colour of the cormus.

Colour. Yellow in life and light beige in ethanol.

Morphology. The cormus is massive, soft and compressible. It is composed of thin (3 mm in diameter), regular and tightly anastomosed tubes, forming a reticulate surface. water-collecting tubes are present and oscula are very conspicuous ( Fig 7 A).

Anatomy. Cells with granules were not observed. The skeleton has no special organization and it is composed of only one category of triactine ( Fig 7 B).

Spicules ( Figure 7 ; Table 8). Triactine: Equiangular and equiradiate. Actines are conical to slightly conical (most of them) and slightly undulated near the tip, which is blunt ( Fig 7 C).

Specimen Spicule Length (µm) Width (µm) n

min mean sd max min mean sd max

UFRJPOR 5173 (H) Triactine 69.3 78.5 3.8 84.0 6.5 7.5 0.4 8.3 30 UFRJPOR 5172 (P) Triactine 72.6 84.1 5.4 95.7 6.9 7.9 0.4 8.4 30 UFRJPOR 5174 (P) Triactine 65.0 75.3 4.2 83.2 6.6 7.5 1.0 9.9 30 Ecology. This species was found in shallow waters, from 2 to 7 m depth, always protected from the sunlight. Distribution. Abrolhos Bank (archipelago and shallow reefs), Bahia State and Rocas Atoll, Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil.

Remarks. Until now yellow colour of clathrinas alive had only been reported from five species: C. aurea (from Brazil and Peru), C. chrysea (from New Caledonia), C. clathrus ( Schmidt, 1864) (from the Mediterranean Sea), C. luteoculcitella (from Australia), and C. insularis sp. nov. (another yellow Clathrina will be described next— C. mutabilis sp. nov.). Clathrina lutea sp. nov. can be easily differentiated from all of them by the organization of its cormus, formed by tight and regularly anastomosed tubes, and by the presence of watercollecting tubes with large oscula. All species known until now do not present such a cushion-shaped cormus with these very peculiar, regular, and tightly anastomosed tubes, and large oscula. Although clathroid sponges are known for their capacity to contract the cormus ( Gaino et al. 1991), the contraction changes only the diameter of the tubes, not their anastomoses. Therefore, anastomosis is a very important character to differentiate clathroid species.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Clathrina lutea sp. nov. A—Holotype after fixation. B—Section. C—Triactine.