Cinachyrella apion ( Uliczka, 1929 )

Cárdenas, Paco, Menegola, Carla, Rapp, Hans Tore & Díaz, Maria Cristina, 2009, Morphological description and DNA barcodes of shallow-water Tetractinellida (Porifera: Demospongiae) from Bocas del Toro, Panama, with description of a new species, Zootaxa 2276, pp. 1-39 : 7-9

Cinachyrella apion ( Uliczka, 1929)

( Figure 3 )

Synonyms ( Rützler & Smith 1992).

Cinachyra apion Uliczka, 1929: 43 , figs. 16–21, pl. I, fig. 4. Cinachyra rizophyta Uliczka, 1929: 38 , figs. 1–10, pl. I, fig. 1.

Cinachyra cavernosa Lamarck, 1815 sensu de Laubenfels, 1950: 128, fig. 56, pl. II, fig. 7. Cinachyra subterranea van Soest & Sass, 1981: 337, fig. 4, pl. II, fig. 2.

Cinachyrella apion ( Uliczka, 1929) : Rützler 1987: 200, figs. 2g; 3b–g; 4a, c; 5d, e.

Holotype. ZMB 4911, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (not seen).

Material. ZMBN 80958, Adriana’s reef, 1 m depth; ZMBN 81785, STRI Point, 1 m depth; 4 other specimens collected.

Additional material examined. Cinachyrella apion , ZMBN 81789, Key Largo, Florida; UFBA-POR 2232, Barra/ Ondina , Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, 13°00'42'' S / 38°31'12'' W, C. Menegola col., intertidal.

Outer morphology ( Fig. 3 A). Massive, small spherical sponge that can reach 7 cm in diameter. External color alive is orange, as well as the choanosome. In ethanol, color becomes yellowish. The surface is very hispid, which hides the true color of the sponge, and gives it a rather sandy color. Generally one oscule (ca 3 mm of diameter), which can be found in any part of the sponge. Porocalices (2 mm of diameter) are numerous and evenly distributed, especially on the sides. No macro-epibionts were found growing on this species, except filamentous red algae. No budding was observed.

Skeleton ( Fig. 3 B). The skeleton organization is similar to that of C. alloclada except for the presence of trichodragmata. Radial bundles of oxeas cross the choanosome until and beyond the surface. A whitish ectosome layer is visible with the naked eye (ca 0.9 mm), it has less sigmas than in the choanosome. Anatriaenes are tangled with the oxea bundles. The cladomes of anatriaenes are placed in or just under the ectosome layer, or protruding beyond the surface. Protriaenes I and protriaenes II are present only around the oscules and porocalices ( Fig. 3 C). Protriaene cladomes were not found in the sponge, but only at its surface. Trichodragmata were common in the choanosome (never in the ectosome), with no particular orientation. Smaller stout oxeas, Haplosclerida-like, dispersed in the choanosome with no particular orientation. A few crystalline round structures (diameter of 91–127 µm) are present in the choanosome, only visible in thick sections. In the choanosome there are also some foreign spicules, foraminifera and diatoms.

Spicules (measurements of ZMBN 80958) ( Fig. 3 D–F). Megascleres: (a) oxeas I, large, length: 2088– 3526.2 –4800 µm (N=14); width: 11– 31.3 –37 µm (N=14). (b) oxeas II ( Fig. 3 D), foreign?, short, stout, length: 141– 169.9 –219 µm; width: 6– 9.4 –13.6 µm. (c) protriaenes I, rhabdome length:> 2040 µm (rhabdomes broken); rhabdome width: 4– 5.2 –7 µm; clad length: 33– 74 –113 µm. (d) protriaenes II, rhabdome length:> 1440 (rhabdomes broken); rhabdome width: 2– 2.9 –4 µm; clad length: 8– 20.7 –29 µm. (e) anatriaenes ( Fig. 3 E), very common, rhabdome with whip–like end, rhabdome length: 2232– 3708 –4800 µm (N=4); rhabdome width: 2– 4.1 –7 µm; clad length: 11– 44.7 –68 µm. Microscleres: (f) trichodragmata, length: 135– 203.3 –248 µm; width: 7– 14.1 –30 µm. (g) sigmaspires ( Fig. 3 F), spiny, length: 8.7– 10.4 –12.5 µm (N=13); width: 0.9– 1.2 –1.4 µm (N=13).

Habitat in the Bocas del Toro region. Common on very shallow reefs and sand (0.4–1.5 m depth), often below mangrove trees. Other reports at Bocas del Toro found it growing on mangrove roots ( Collin et al. 2005; Díaz 2005), as it is often found in Belize ( Rützler & Smith 1992).

Distribution. North and South Carolina ( Rützler & Smith 1992); Bermuda (de Laubenfels 1950; Rützler & Smith 1992); Florida ( Rützler & Smith 1992); Bahamas (van Soest & Sass 1981; Rützler & Smith 1992); Virgin Islands ( Uliczka 1929); Belize ( Rützler & Smith 1992; Rützler et al. 2000); Panama (Wulff 2000; Díaz 2005); Colombia ( Wintermann-Kilian & Kilian 1984); Brazil ( Lazoski et al. 1999; Cedro et al. 2007).

Remarks and discussion. C. apion was considered to be rare in Bocas del Toro (Díaz 2005), but we found it to be fairly common, especially in Adriana’s reef. Despite the presence of oxeas II ( Fig. 3 D), the morphology of our specimens completely agreed with the description of C. apion . It is interesting to note that the short oxeas II were never previously reported in C. apion , and that they were not observed in our specimens from Florida. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that these oxeas II were foreign.

The crystalline structures in the choanosome were previously reported in this species and C. alloclada ( Rützler & Smith 1992; Lazoski et al. 1999). These structures have also been observed in other species of Tetillidae : Cinachyrella levantinensis Vacelet et al. (Vacelet et al. 2007) , Craniella cranium (Müller) and Craniella zetlandica (Carter) (P. Cárdenas, personal observation). Their function is still unknown, as well as their diagnostic relevance. We nonetheless emphasize the fact that these were never found in C. kuekenthali (in previous records or our specimens).

Our COI sequence ( FJ711645 ) was strictly identical to those of a C. apion from Twin Cays Mangroves, Belize ( EF519601 ) and from Flatts Inlet, Bermuda ( AJ843895 ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Cinachyrella apion (Uliczka, 1929) [ZMBN 80958]: A. Gross morphology; B. Cross – section showing the skeletal architecture. ect: ectosome. Scale: 1 mm; C. Cross – section of oscule. ptI: protriaenes I, ptII: protriaenes II. Scale: 0.5 mm; D. Oxea II. Scale: 20 µm; E. Anatriaene. Scale: 10 µm; F. Sigmaspire. Scale: 1 µm.