Caminella pustula, Cárdenas & Vacelet & Chevaldonné & Pérez & Xavier, 2018

Cárdenas, Paco, Vacelet, Jean, Chevaldonné, Pierre, Pérez, Thierry & Xavier, Joana R., 2018, From marine caves to the deep sea, a new look at Caminella (Demospongiae, Geodiidae) in the Atlanto-Mediterranean region, Zootaxa 4466 (1), pp. 174-196 : 187-190

Caminella pustula sp. nov.

( Figures 8–9 , Table 1)

Holotype. MNHN-IP-2008-4 , Seamount 2 expedition, St. DW184, Banc d’Hyères , 31°24’N, 28°52’W, 705 m, 16.01.1993, coll. Gofas, Métivier & Warén, barrel 2-1.

Paratypes. MNHN-IP-2008-4 (four other specimens); MNHN-IP-2008-8, Seamount 2, St. CP151, Grand Banc Meteor, 30°12’N, 28°25’W, 585 m, 11.01.1993, coll. Gofas, Métivier & Warén, barrel 2-1; MNHN-IP-2008- 148 (2 specimens), Seamount 2, St. DW265, Banc Atlantis, 34°29’N, 30°36’W, 545 m, 0 3. 0 2. 1993, coll. Gofas, Métivier & Warén, barrel 2-9; MNHN-IP-2008-149, Seamount 2, St. DW248, Banc Plato, 33°14’N, 29°32’W, 735 m, 0 1.02.1993, coll. Gofas, Métivier & Warén, barrel 2-9.

Other material. MNCN 1.01/1017, El Cachucho (=Le Danois Bank), 44°02.6999' N, 05° 06.3436' W, 660 m, ethanol 96%, SponGES 0 617 expedition, station DR9, field#DR9-430, rock dredge, 16.06.2017, coll. P. Rios.

External morphology ( Fig. 8 ). Holotype is an elongated, globular sponge, 3.5 cm long ( Fig. 8A , shown with arrow, 8C). MNHN-IP-2008-8 has a more irregular shape. In ethanol, surface color is cream to brown; choanosome is cream-colored. The specimen from El Cachucho is 0.7 x 0.6 cm and cream-colored alive (slightly browner in ethanol); it was growing on a Pachastrella sp. Cortex is 1–0.5 mm thick. Specimens are slightly compressible. Uniporal oscules are 0.5 mm wide, elevated up to 1 mm, resembling pimples, with a dark brown ring. Uniporal pores sometimes with a dark ring as well, can also be elevated, but less than oscules. Most specimens are growing on coral branches.

Spicules. ( Fig. 9 , Table 1, Supp. Mat. Appendix 1). (a) oxeas,> 2600 x 20 –40 µm; (b) dichotriaenes (rhabdome: 581–1100 x 43 –75 µm; protoclad: 70–296 µm; deuteroclad: 108–790 µm); (c) elongated mature sterrasters, 70–107 x 53 –92 µm; (d) oxyasters, 27–78 µm in diameter, 2–8 actins, the actins are finely acanthose; center usually well developed; (e) spiny spherules, 4–13 µm in diameter.

Bathymetric range. 545–735 m.

DNA barcoding. COI. MNCN 1.01/1017 ( MH477615 ). There is a 6 bp difference with C. intuta and a 4 bp difference with C. caboverdensis . 28S (C1-D2). MNCN 1.01/1017 ( MH478117 ). There is a 17 bp difference with C. intuta from Portugal and 3 bp difference with the shorter 28S (C1-C2) of C. caboverdensis . Submitted to the Sponge Barcoding Project with accession number 1780.

Etymology. Named for the external surface, which is covered with ‘pimples’, pustula in Latin.

Remarks. The key/diagnostic morphological character that identifies this species, is the elevated, pimple- shaped opening (either oscule or pore) with a brown tip. The spicules are overall much larger than in C. intuta and C. caboverdensis sp. nov. ( Table 1, Supp. Mat. Appendix 1): i) the sterrasters are elongate (versus more or less spherical in the other two species) and much larger (70–107 µm in length versus 40–84 µm in C. intuta ), ii) the oxyasters are 27–78 µm versus 5–27 µm in C. intuta and 8–42 µm in C. caboverdensis ; they are sometimes reduced to only 2–4 actins versus usually>6 actins in C. intuta and C. caboverdensis sp. nov, iii) the dichotriaene rhabdomes are thicker (43–77 µm versus 17–60 µm for C. intuta and 20–50 µm in C. caboverdensis and iv) the dichotriaenes have longer clades (especially the deuteroclades). Finally, C. pustula sp. nov. lives at greater depths than the other two species: 545–735 m versus 2–300 m for C. intuta , 75 m for C. caboverdensis .

Figures

FIGURE 8. Caminella pustula sp. nov. A. MNHN-IP-2008-4, the holotype is designated with a black arrow. B. MNHN-IP- 2008-148 (tag is 7 cm long). C. Close-up of holotype showing the oscules (right) and smaller pores (bottom left). D. Right specimen in B, MNHN-IP-2008-148, specimen measured in Table 1. E. Microscleres from holotype MNHN-IP-2008-4 (optical microscope) with sterraster, oxyasters and spherules. F. Focus on the sterraster from image E to show the complex sterraster surface.

FIGURE 9. Caminella pustula sp. nov., MNHN-IP-2008-4, holotype. A. Sterrasters. B. Young sterraster. C. Surface of mature sterraster. D. Oxyasters. E. Spherules.