Clathrina africana, Klautau & Valentine, 2003

Klautau, Michelle & Valentine, Clare, 2003, Revision of the genus Clathrina (Porifera, Calcarea), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 139 (1), pp. 1-62 : 47-48

CLATHRINA AFRICANA SP. NOV.

Original identification: Leucosolenia coriacea ( Montagu, 1818)

Etymology: From the type locality.

Type locality: St. James , Cape Town, South Africa .

Type: BMNH 1935.10 .21.48 (holotype /alcohol). St. James , Cape Town, South Africa. Professor T .

A. Stephenson Collection (11 February 1933) (Collection number F.184).

Colour: Holotype when preserved is white.

Description: Cormus formed of thin, irregular and loosely anastomosed tubes ( Fig. 40A). No watercollecting tubes were observed. Cells with granules were also not observed. The skeleton has no special organization, comprising equiangular and equiradiate triactines and tetractines ( Fig. 40B). Actines are conical, slightly undulated at the distal part, and with a sharp tip. The apical actine of the tetractines is shorter, smooth, conical, straight and sharp, and it is always projected into the tubes.

Remarks: There are six clathrinas where the skeleton comprises a single population of triactines and tetractines: C. adusta , C. canariensis , C. quadriradiata , C. septentrionalis , C. tetractina and C. africana sp. nov. C. africana can be easily differentiated from C. quadriradiata and C. tetractina because the last two have tetractines as the main spicule type. To differentiate C. africana from the other three species, one can use the organization of the osculum and the anastomosis of the tubes. While C. africana has loosely anastomosed tubes and no water-collecting tubes, C. adusta , C. canariensis and C. septentrionalis have tightly anastomosed tubes and water-collecting tubes. Moreover, only C. adusta has conical actines, and these can be differentiated from those of C. africana by the size of their spicules and the shape of the apical actine of the tetractines (cylindrical in C. adusta and conical in C. africana ).