Latrunculia (Latrunculia) fiordensis Alvarez et al., 2002

Samaai, Toufiek, Gibbons, Mark J. & Kelly, Michelle, 2006, Revision of the genus Latrunculia du Bocage, 1869 Porifera: Demospongiae: Latrunculiidae) with descriptions of new species from New Caledonia and the Northeastern Pacific (, Zootaxa 1127 (1), pp. 1-71 : 44-45

Latrunculia (Latrunculia) fiordensis Alvarez et al., 2002

( Figs 1M, 2 , 3G; Tables 2 & 3)

Latrunculia fiordensis Alvarez et al., 2002 , PG. 172, FIG. 3E, 10

Holotype material. Not examined, NZOI H 800 , Niwa collection.

Additional paratype material. Not examined, NZOI P­1271; NZOI 1272 ; Niwa Collection .

Other material examined. NZOI stn A521 (Ts 51), New Zealand, 73 54.0–52.0'S, 177 44.0–46.0'W, depth 569– 547 m, NIWA collection

Diagnosis. Massive, semispherical sponge with cylindrical­shaped oscules and numerous sub­globular, short, thin lipped crater­like areolate porefields, without a membranous cover ( Fig. 3G). Colour in life is green; in preservative, dark brown.

Spicules. Styles are fusiform and often polytylote, 375 (317–453) x 6 (4–8) m, n=20. Anisodiscorhabds ( Fig. 1M) with a simple manubrium and heavily spined basal, median, subsidiary and apical whorls, with spines projecting on several planes. The median whorl is larger in diameter than the subsidiary and apical whorls. The subsidiary whorl is slanted upwards and the whorls are notched along the rim and divided into four segments, each segment possessing denticulate margins of 6–7 spines. The apical whorl is also separate from the subsidiary whorl by a short shaft. Acanthodiscorhabd length 39 (34–45) x 4 (3–6) m, n=20. The choanosomal skeleton consists of a firm and well developed but irregular polygonal­meshed reticulation and the surface of the ectosome is lined with an erect layer of non­interlocking anisodiscorhabds (see Fig. 10B in Alvarez et al. 2002). The ectosome of consists of a clear, thick band of collagenous mesohyal, 200–450 µm thick, at the base of which is a thin band of paratangential styles. This layer is present in the fistulae with styles disposed in a compact, regular vertical to oblique arrangement supporting the mammiform areolate structures (after Alvarez et al. 2002).

Off the New Zealand coastline the species are found in a calm, low light and salinity environment, typically that of fiords areas. It is attached to vertical rock walls, and not confined to shaded areas as other coastal species. Depth range 5–569 m depth.

Geographic distribution ( Fig. 2 ). New Zealand (Fiordlands)

Remarks. Latrunculia (Latrunculia) fiordensis is separated from other species on the elaborate spinose nature of the whorls on the anisodiscorhabd (see Alvarez et al. 2002 for comparison to other New Zealand species).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Worldwide distributions of Latrunculia (Latrunculia) species. Distributions of 1) Latrunculia cratera du Bocage, 2) L. bocagei Ridley and Dendy, 3) L. apicalis Ridley and Dendy, 4) L. biformis Kirkpatrick, 5) Latrunculia basilis Kirkpatrick, 6) L. brevis Ridley and Dendy, 7) Latrunculia palmata Lévi, 8) Latrunculia multirotalis Topsent, 9) Latrunculia crenulata Lévi, 10) Latrunculia ikematsui Tanita, 11) Latrunculia oxydiscorhabda Alvarez et al., 12) Latrunculia triverticillata Alvarez et al., 13) Latrunculia fiordensis Alvarez et al., 14) Latrunculia novaecaledoniae sp. nov.

FIGURE 10. Photomicrographs of choanosomal architectures: A. Latrunculia duckworthi Alvarez et al. 2002; B. Latrunculia wellingtonensis Alvarez et al. 2002; C. Latrunculia kaikoura Alvarez et al. 2002; D. Gross morphology of Latrunculia kaikoura Alvarez et al. 2002.