Aplysina lingua, Pinheiro, Ulisses Dos S., Hajdu, Eduardo & Custódio, Márcio R., 2007

Pinheiro, Ulisses Dos S., Hajdu, Eduardo & Custódio, Márcio R., 2007, Aplysina Nardo (Porifera, Verongida, Aplysinidae) from the Brazilian coast with description of eight new species, Zootaxa 1609, pp. 1-51 : 35-36

Aplysina lingua sp.n. ( Figs. 16 C, 17B, 19, Tab. IX)

Holotype: MNRJ 5476, west coral head (Parque Nacional Marinho dos Abrolhos, BA, 17º57'703'' S - 36º14'795'' W), 18 m depth, E. Esteves and G. Muricy coll., 03/III/2002.

Paratype: MNRJ 5469, Parcel Paredes, south side, (Parque Nacional Marinho dos Abrolhos, BA, 17º53'499'' S - 38º58'034'' W), 10 m depth, U.S. Pinheiro and G. Muricy coll., 05/III/2002.

Diagnosis: Elongate lamellar form, similar to a tongue, Light yellow colour in vivo.

Description of the species

The specimen has an erect, tongue form (long, flattened, lamelar) with 18 cm length by 4 cm width and 2 cm thickness expanding toward the apex ( Fig. 17 B, 19A). The small oscula (1 mm) are spread over the entire surface, which is very finely conulose. The colour is a mixture of light yellowish-brown, light pinkish-brown and light-yellow in vivo, which turns into dark brownish-purple after preservation in ethanol. Consistency is flexible.

Skeleton: Choanosome with a delicate and irregular network of spongin fibers ( Fig. 19B ). Bark with amber or reddish colour, thickness of 37–192 Μm (average 117 Μm) and thick pith that can be black or amber with thickness varying between 10 and 35 Μm (average 31 Μm; Fig. 19C ).

Distribution: Provisionally known only from the type locality off the State of Bahia ( Brazil; Fig. 16 C).

Ecology: The specimens were collected in a maximum of 18 m depth in shaded areas of coral heads.

Etymology: The name of the species is a noum in apposition and relates to its morphology tongue-like (tongue = lingua in Latin).

Remarks: A. lingua sp.n. approaches more closely the morphospace of A. fulva , known for its plasticity and undelimited diagnosis. Nevertheless, the hundreds to thousands of specimens of A. fulva observed at many localities along the Brazilian Coast only very seldom possessed a comparable mixture of colours when alive, and none of them were observed to comprise a single branch with a flattened, elongate, lamelar form.

TABLE IX: Spongin fibres’ measurement data for Aplysina lingua sp.n. (in micrometers; S.D. = Standard Deviation and N=30).

Specimens Locality* Fibers Piths

Thinnest Mean Thickest S.D. Thinnest Mean Thickest S.D.

Holotype Abrolhos, BA 60.0 147.7 192.5 35.6 10.0 20.5 35.0 6.1

MNRJ 5476

Paratype Abrolhos, BA 37.5 88.3 175.0 25.1 10.0 16.4 27.5 4.8

MNRJ 5469

*BA, Bahia State.

Figures

FIGURE 16: Map showing the distribution of Aplysina along the Brazilian coastline. A. Aplysina cristagallus sp. n .. B. Aplysina lactuca sp. n .. C. Aplysina lingua sp. n.. D. Aplysina muricyana sp. n .. Scale bar = 500 km.

FIGURE 17: A. Aplysina lactuca sp. n. in situ, Holotype – MNRJ 5477 (Parque Nacional Marinho dos Abrolhos, BA, Brazil). B. Aplysina lingua in situ, Paratype—MNRJ 5469 (Parque Nacional Marinho dos Abrolhos, BA, Brazil). C – F. Aplysina muricyana in situ, Reserva Biológica do Atol das Rocas, (RN, Brazil). Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURE 19: A – C. Aplysina lingua sp. n. — Holotype. (MNRJ 5476) A. habit after preservation. B. Skeletal architecture. C. Spongin fibres. Scale bars = A. 2 cm, B. 500 µm, C. 50 µm.