Haliclona (Reniera) venusta ( Bowerbank, 1875 )

Putra, Singgih Afifa, Ambo-Rappe, Rohani, Jompa, Jamaluddin & de Voogd, Nicole J., 2024, Preliminary study of marine sponges (Porifera) in the littoral of Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia, ZooKeys 1208, pp. 275-313 : 275-313

Haliclona (Reniera) venusta ( Bowerbank, 1875)

Fig. 8

Diagnostic features.

Specimen form tube, soft and delicate. Color yellowish in living material and yellow to pale white in alcohol. The skeleton forms an isotropic reticulation of a single line spicules. All spicules on this specimen are oxeas, 88–109 (95.2) × 4.3–6.5 (5.7) µm (n = 20).

Distribution and ecology.

The WPD checklist only lists four species of the subgenus Reniera recorded from marine ecoregions of Indonesia with two as doubtful species, Haliclona (Reniera) cinerea (Grant, 1826) (doubtful species), Haliclona (Reniera) fascigera ( Hentschel, 1912) , Haliclona (Reniera) infundibularis (Ridley & Dendy, 1887) (doubtful species), and Haliclona (Reniera) venusta ( Bowerbank, 1875) , but none of these species were registered in the Spermonde Archipelago ( Putra et al. 2023). This report presents a new record of Haliclona (Reniera) venusta from the Spermonde Archipelago (Samalona Island; reef flat). Previously, this species has been only reported from Malacca Strait ( Bowerbank 1875).

Figures

Figure 8. Haliclona (Reniera) venusta (Bowerbank, 1875) a habitus in situ at Samalona Island, the Spermonde Archipelago (photograph by SAP) b LM images of tangential section and spicules reticulation c oxeas d close up of spicules reticulation.