Cliona californiana Laubenfels, 1932

Pacheco, Cristian, Carballo, José Luis, Cortés, Jorge, Segovia, Johanna & Trejo, Alejandra, 2018, Excavating sponges from the Pacific of Central America, descriptions and a faunistic record, Zootaxa 4370 (5), pp. 451-491 : 457

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4370.5.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:88C1C5A7-3C4E-416D-A716-D8B3D62E720D
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5979136
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/BC2D87B2-7B6A-E557-5FB5-81C2FD41F84C
treatment provided by	Plazi (2018-01-15 06:15:27, last updated 2024-11-26 07:11:31)
scientific name	Cliona californiana Laubenfels, 1932
status

Treatment

Material examined. MZUCR .373, CIMAR. BS.24: Bahía Salinas, entre 10 y 21 m, 3.III.2011, coll. and det. Cristian Pacheco Solano. CIMAR . CU.11: Bahía Culebra, 8 m, 28.VI.2011, coll. and det. Cristian Pacheco Solano. CIMAR . LF.02: Reserva La Flor , 5 m, 14.II.2012, coll. and det. Cristian Pacheco Solano.

External morphology. Can occur in beta and gamma morphologies ( Carballo et al. 2004), but recently only recorded in alpha form. Discrete, circular papillae protruding above substrate, 0.8–2.5 mm in diameter. Live color yellow.

Excavation. Multicamerare erosion. Chambers on average 1 mm in diameter ( Fig. 5A View FIGURE5 ), irregular in shape, occasionally fusing. Erosion scars on chamber walls 30 to 66 µm in diameter, with very subtle circular ridges and sharp edges ( Fig. 5B View FIGURE5 ).

Spicules. Megascleres tylostyles and derivates, straight or slightly curved mid-shaft, tyles as a rule slightly subterminal, displaced more strongly in immature tylostyles ( Fig. 6 View FIGURE 6 ). Derivates as subtylostyles or styles. No microscleres. Tylostyle dimensions: 125–306 µm (x̅ =232, σ=48.3) x 2–10 µm (x̅ =6.3, σ=1.5). Dimensions of subtylostyles or styles: 100–205 µm (x̅ =153, σ=35.6) x 3.8–8 µm (x̅ =4.4, σ=1.5).

Ecology. The specimens were found in dead massive and branching corals of Pavona sp. and Pocillopora sp. between 5 and 21 m depth.

Distribution and previous records. Laubenfels (1932) found this species in California, United States, boring in shells and dead barnacles. Later, it was located in the Gulf of California, Mexico under the names Pseudosuberites pseudos ( Dickinson 1945; Hofknecht 1978) and C. celata ( Green & Gómez 1986) . This species is very common in the Mexican Pacific and especially in the northern Sea of Cortez ( Carballo et al. 2004, 2008a; Vega 2012). In this study we report it for the first time from the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica ( Fig. 7 View FIGURE 7 ).

Remarks. C. californiana is a member of the C. celata species complex. This group is taxonomically difficult, because only tylostyles occur, which are similar in shape and size among different species ( Schönberg et al. 2006). Carballo et al. (2004) earlier unraveled the taxonomy and various reports for C. californiana that were published under different names (see above) and redescribed the species in much detail. We therefore only provided a short description in addition to our distributional record.

References

Carballo, J. L., Cruz-Barraza, J. A. & Gomez, P. (2004) Taxonomy and description of clionaid sponges (Hadromerida, Clionaidae) from the Pacific Ocean of Mexico. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 141, 353 - 397. https: // doi. org / 10.1111 / j. 1096 - 3642.2004.00126. x

Carballo, J. L., Cruz-Barraza, J. A., Nava, H. & Bautista, E. (2008 a) Esponjas perforadoras de sustratos calcareos: importancia en los ecosistemas arrecifales del Pacifico este. CONABIO, Mexico City, 187 pp.

Dickinson, M. G. (1945) Sponges of the Gulf of California. Reports on the collections obtained by Alan Hancock Pacific Expeditions of Velero III off the coast of Mexico, Central America, South America, and Galapagos Islands in 1932, in 1933, in 1934, in 1935, in 1936, in 1937, in 1939, and 1940. Vol. 11. The University of Southern California Press, Los Angeles, 251 pp.

Green, G. & Gomez, P. (1986) Estudio taxonomico de las esponjas de la Bahia de Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico. Anales del Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia de la Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 13, 273 - 300.

Hofknecht, G. (1978) Descriptions and key to the intertidal sponges of the Puerto Penasco area in the Gulf of California. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, 13, 51 - 56.

Laubenfels, M. W. de (1932) The marine and freshwater sponges of California. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 81, 1 - 40. https: // doi. org / 10.5479 / si. 00963801.81 - 2927.1

Schonberg, C. H. L., Grass, S. & Heiermann, A. T. (2006) Cliona minuscula, sp. nov. (Hadromerida: Clionaidae) and other bioeroding sponges that only contain tylostyles. Zootaxa, 1312, 1 - 24.

Vega, C. (2012) Composicion y afinidades biogeograficas de esponjas (Demospongiae) asociadas a comunidades coralinas del Pacifico Mexicano. Doctoral thesis, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico, 231 pp.