Paratimea oxeata Pulitzer-Finali, 1978 Figs 5 A–D

Paratimea oxeata Pulitzer-Finali, 1978: 39.

Material examined.

Specimen SSS-BL1-F3A-spH; alcohol and dry state; Santo Stefano Shoals (station 1), 43°49'N, 7°54'E, depth 35 m, collected 14-02-2008. The specimen was entirely used for spicule preparations.

Description .

Very small (0.5 cm2) insinuating sponge (Fig. 5A) detected inside a cavity of a slice of a coralligenous block. Grey coloured in dry state.

Skeleton. Not observed.

Spicules. Macroscleres: oxeas in two size categories: I) large oxeas curved, bent or flexuous, with hastate tips (Fig. 5B), 810 (961.25) 1200 × 15 (18) 25 μm; II) small oxeas curved or flexuous (Fig. 5C), 300 (546.6) 700 × 2.5 (4.75) 5 μm . Microscleres: oxyasters with more or less marked centrum with 9-12 conical rays, 25 (41.5) 60 μm in diameter. In some cases the number of rays is reduced (Fig. 5D).

Distribution and discussion.

The species wasdescribed from Naples (Pulitzer-Finali 1978) where it occurred on rocky bottoms at 60-100 meter depth. This is a new record for the coralligenous assemblage and for the Ligurian Sea and it is probably endemic for the Mediterranean Sea (Pansini and Longo 2008). This is its first finding after the original description.