Clathrina aurea, Sole-Cava, Klautau, Boury-Esnault, Borojevic & Thorpe, 1991

Klautau, Michelle & Valentine, Clare, 2003, Revision of the genus Clathrina (Porifera, Calcarea), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 139 (1), pp. 1-62 : 9-10

CLATHRINA AUREA SOLÉ- CAVA, KLAUTAU, BOURY-

ESNAULT, BOROJEVIC & THORPE, 1991

Type locality: Arraial do Cabo , Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Description : Cormus formed of large, irregular and loosely anastomosed tubes, with several oscula. No water-collecting tubes are present ( Fig. 5A ) .

The skeleton has no special organization, comprising equiangular and equiradiate triactines only ( Fig. 5B ). Actines are cylindrical and characteristically undulated at the distal part. Their tips are always rounded.

This species has a sciaphilous habitat and lives in areas protected from the action of waves. It is frequently found on the roofs of small caves or inside crevices.

Remarks: Clathrina aurea is very similar to its sibling C. clathrus from the Mediterranean. Both species are yellow and have only triactines with undulated actines and rounded tips. Studying the allozyme variation of both populations ( Solé-Cava et al., 1991), Type: MNHN-LBIM.C. 1989.1 (holotype /alcohol). Arraial do Cabo (Anjos Beach), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Collected by E. Hajdu (15 November 1987), BMNH 1999.9.19.6 (paratype /alcohol). Arraial do Cabo (Forno Beach), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Collected by G. Muricy (19 April 1987), 5-m depth.

Citations: Borojevic & Klautau (2000); Klautau & Borojevic (2001).

Colour: Living specimens have a clathrate gold yellow cormus, which becomes beige when preserved.

very low levels of genetic identity were found between them, indicating the absence of gene flow. Consequently, both populations are considered distinct species. Although morphologically similar, some differences could be recognized between specimens of each population after the genetic study. The spicules of C. aurea are always shorter than those of C. clathrus (92 Mm (± 7 Mm)/6 Mm (± 1 Mm)). Moreover, the organization of the cormus in both species is different. While C. aurea has several oscula spread through the tubes, C. clathrus has water-collecting tubes. They also differ in another less evident characteristic: in C. clathrus the tip of the actines is more rounded than it is in C. aurea . However, in order to use this character to distinguish between the two species, it is necessary to simultaneously compare examples of both.

Figures

Figure 5. Clathrina aurea. A, photograph of the holotype (¥ 10). B, triactines. Scale bar = 100 Mm.