Leucetta primigenia var. megalirrhaphis Ridley, 1884

Van Soest, Rob W. M., 2024, Correcting sponge names: nomenclatural update of lower taxa level Porifera, Zootaxa 5398 (1), pp. 1-122 : 93

Leucetta primigenia var. megalirrhaphis Ridley, 1884

Leucetta primigenia var. megalirrhaphis Ridley, 1884: 628 (no illustration).

The variety was described by Ridley from the Seychelles, no further locality data, approximate coordinates 4.9°S 55.5°E, depth 22 m. This is a puzzling taxon, presumably represented by BMNH specimens labeled Leucetta primigenia var. megaraphis , reg nr. 1882.10.17.59 (cf. Burton, 1963) and a wet specimen kept in BMNH 1955.11.2.122 (according to the BMNH specimens Data Portal https://data.nhm.ac.uk/dataset/56e711e6-c847-4f99- 915a-6894bb5c5dea/resource/05ff2255-c38a-40c9-b657-4ccb55ab2feb/record/2760023, status unclear). Ridley erected the name Leucetta . primigenia var. megalirrhaphis for two specimens of brown colour (in alcohol), but cited L.p. var. megaraphis Haeckel, 1872: 119 as a presumed synonym. Ridley did not explain why he erected the new name (it could be a misspelling), but possibly he acknowledged by this that the Seychelles specimens were not likely to be the same variety as Haeckel’s type from the Adriatic (no further locality data). Von Lendenfeld (1888: 7) reported Leucetta megarrhaphis (sic) from Broughton Island, north of Port Jackson, Australia, approximate coordinates 32.6°S 152,3°E, no further data, specimen BMNH 1886.6.7.41, cf. Burton 1963: 596 and Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: 488), an obvious misapplication of an Adriatic species. Subsequent authors, including Burton (1963) and Van Soest & De Voogd (2018) ignored the name megalirrhaphis. Ridley’s description is inadequate, but assuming we are dealing with a Leucetta species, the brown colour in alcohol indicates that it could very well be a member of what is so far named Leucetta microraphis Haeckel, 1872 in the sense of Van Soest & De Voogd (2015: 54, figs. 39a–d, 40a–d; 2018: 80, figs. 45a–f, 46a–e). Accordingly, I reassign this variety to the synonymy of that species, until a proper and very necessary revision of Leucetta microraphis has been completed.