Soestella

Shafique, S, Burhan, Z, Jabeen, H, Rasheed, M, Ali, A & Siddiqui, P J A, 2023, Re-description of two marine sponge species (Demospongiae: Haplosclerida) from the coast of Karachi, Pakistan, Northern Arabian Sea, Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences 52 (7), pp. 347-353 : 348-350

Subgenus: Soestella 14

Haliclona (Soestella) hornelli 40 ( Fig. 2a )

Synonymy Reniera hornelli 40, 110, Pl II, Figure 11.

Material examined

CEMB-POR-03; Buleji, Karachi; 26 January 2016; 1.0 to 1.5 m (rock pool).

Material description

Cushion-shaped, spread over the surface of rocks, firmly attached in the form of thickly encrusting sheets. Surface smooth and even, small chimney-like volcano elevations on the surface with 0.8 – 1.0 cm height, inner tube length of 0.4 – 0.8 cm and width was 0.6 cm. The oscules (diameter 0.2 – 0.4 cm) were scattered irregularly over the surface. Consistency was soft, delicate and fragile.

Colour

Turquoise blue in life and grayish beige in alcohol ( Fig. 2b ).

Ectosomal skeleton

Unispicular, tangentially irregular reticulation of fibres.

Choanosomal skeleton

Delicate with sub-anisotropic, unispicular and paucispicular reticulation irregularly and tangentially connected with ectosomal unispicular surface lines forming the meshes.

Spicule

Oxeas, size range: length 80 – 148 µm and width 5 – 7 µm, with pointed ends, loosely attached with nodal sponging ( Fig. 2c – f ).

Ecology

Rock pool, shallow intertidal rocky shelf at depth 1.2 m ( Fig. 2a ).

Distribution

Beyt Island , West and South shelf (71°43'8.4" E, 20°28'25.7" N), India and Buleji ledge, Karachi (64°50'21" E, 24°49'03" N), Pakistan (present study) .

Remarks

Haliclona (S.) hornelli 40 was originally described as Reniera hornelli 40 from Okhamandal, Gujrat, India, with skeletal features of isodictyal choanosomal skeleton, the multispicular lines interconnected irregularly with unispicular secondary lines. De Weerdt 14 described the characteristic features of the subgenus Haliclona (Reniera) as having a choanosomal skeleton consisting of a regular unispicular isotropic reticulation, unlike the presently studied specimen’s features. The specimen examined in the current study and the material described by Dendy 40 has a sub-anisotropic choanosomal skeleton, ascending paucispicular lines that are irregularly connected to secondary unispicular lines. The ectosomal skeleton is formed by rounded meshes. This combination of characters indicates that the species has to be placed in the subgenus Haliclona (Soestella) .

Figures

Fig. 2 — (a) Specimen of Haliclona (Soestella) hornelli (Dendy, 1916) in a rock pool, (b) Preserved specimen of H. (S.) hornelli, (c) Light microscopic image of internal skeletal structure, (d) Scanning electron microscopic image of oxeas (scale = 20 µm), (e) Histological section of ectosomal and choanosomal skeleton (scale = 500 µm), and (f) Spicules (oxeas) in tangential section