Mycale (Paresperella) serrulata Sara & Siribelli, 1960

Bertolino, Marco, Cerrano, Carlo, Bavestrello, Giorgio, Carella, Mirco, Pansini, Maurizio & Calcinai, Barbara, 2013, Diversity of Porifera in the Mediterranean coralligenous accretions, with description of a new species, ZooKeys 336, pp. 1-37 : 13-14

Mycale (Paresperella) serrulata Sara & Siribelli, 1960 Figs 12 A–D

Mycale (Paresperella) serrulata Sarà & Siribelli, 1960: 51.

Material examined.

Specimen IG-F-BL3-F4B-spA; specimen IG-F-BL3-F17B-spA alcohol preserved, Gallinara Island (station 2, Falconara) 44°01'22"N, 8°13'34"E, depth 35 m, collected on 31-07-2009. The specimen was entirely used for spicule preparations.

Description. Small, encrusting and insinuating sponge, beige in the dry state, occupying a small cavity (1 cm3) in a coralligenous block.

Skeleton. Not observed.

Spicules. Megascleres: mycalostyles straight or flexuous, with acerate tip (Fig. 12A), 310 (325) 340 × 3.75 (5) 7.5 µm. Microscleres: anisochelae in two size categories. I) The larger ones, 25 (29.5) 35 µm, have the bigger tooth palmate and the smaller often characterized by a conspicuous point and slightly diverging outwords alae; a hole is detectable at the smaller extremity (Fig. 12B). II) The smaller ones measure, 12.5 (13.7) 15 µm (Fig. 12C). Sigmas “C” shaped, 64 (78) 100 × 2.5 (2.7) 5 µm, with the convex edge serrated (Fig. 12D).

Distribution and discussion.

Mycale (Paresperella) serrulata Sarà & Siribelli, 1960, was originally described from a detritic bottom of the Gulf of Naples at 30-40 m depth. Voultsiadou and Vafidis (2004) recorded the species encrusting on Fasciospongia cavernosa at 90 m depth in the Aegean Sea. Mycale (Paresperella) serrulata is a Mediterranean endemic species. Pansini and Longo (2008) recorded it for the first time for the Ligurian Sea and the coralligenous community.