Mycale (Grapelia) Gray, 1867

Van, Rob W. M., Aryasari, Ratih & De, Nicole J., 2021, Mycale species of the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Porifera, Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida), Zootaxa 4912 (1), pp. 1-212 : 88

Subgenus Mycale (Grapelia) Gray, 1867

Grapelia Gray, 1867: 534 .

Mycale (Grapelia) ; Hallmann 1914: 399; Hajdu 1995: 73; Van Soest & Hajdu 2002: 680.

Type species. Grapelia australis Gray, 1867: 534 (= Mycale (Grapelia) australis ).

Remarks. This subgenus was treated comprehensively in chapter 6 of Hajdu’s thesis (Hajdu 1995, pp. 73–98), including the six species known from the Indo-West Pacific region. The subgenus is defined on its strongly curved unguiferate anisochelae I and strongly curved anisochelae II with denticulated rims of the upper and lower median alae. Remarkably, no additional material was detected in the previous 25 years since Hajdu’s thesis. The type species Mycale (Grapelia) australis ( Gray, 1867) was described extensively also in Van Soest & Hajdu (2002) (p. 680). For completeness sake and also to confirm the rather ambiguous treatment of several species, named and described by Hajdu according to the rules of the ICZN, but presented as ‘submitted’ as well as ‘n.sp.’, we briefly categorize Indo-West Pacific species of which material was available in the Naturalis collection, as well as provide fresh SEM images of the spicules of these. We also include M. (G.) australis and M. (G.) ancorina ( Whitelegge, 1906) , technically from outside our study area. For more extensive information and a key to all species of Mycale (Grapelia) we refer to Hajdu’s thesis. We confirm the essence of Hajdu’s conclusions, but the subgenus remains rather poorly known due to the apparent rarity of its members. Only a single species, Caribbean M. (G.) unguifera Hajdu et al. 1995 , is known from outside the Indo-West Pacific region. The subgenus is quite likely monophyletic because of the shapes of anisochelae I and II, and the occurrence of rosettes not only of anisochelae I but also of anisochelae II. Its affiliation with the remaining subgenera is likely strongest with certain species of Mycale (Mycale) , with which it shares curved anisochelae I and spurred anisochelae III.