Caulophacus (Caulophacus) Schulze, 1886

Reiswig, Henry M., Dohrmann, Martin, Kelly, Michelle, Mills, Sadie, Schupp, Peter J. & Woerheide, Gert, 2021, Rossellid glass sponges (Porifera, Hexactinellida) from New Zealand waters, with description of one new genus and six new species, ZooKeys 1060, pp. 33-84 : 33

Caulophacus (Caulophacus) Schulze, 1886

Diagnosis.

Body is mushroom-shaped or cup-like, basiphytous with long stalk. Choanosomal spicules are diactins and hexactins. Dermalia and atrialia are pinular hexactins and/or pinular pentactins. Hypodermalia and hypoatrialia are pentactins. Microscleres are represented chiefly by spicules with discoidal terminations. They usually can be divided into two categories. The first are spicules with thick rays covered with dense spines: usually discohexactins but also discohexasters, hemidiscohexasters, and rarely discasters. The second are discohexasters with thin, smooth, or rough secondary rays usually in the form of lophodiscohexasters but sometimes calycocomes and spherical discohexasters are present among them (emended from Tabachnick 2002).

Remarks.

The subgenus Caulophacus Caulophacus is likely paraphyletic (Dohrmann 2019; MD, unpubl. results) and retained here for historical reasons only. Diagnoses of genus Caulophacus and subgenus Caulophacus Caulophacus are emended to include the new species Caulophacus (Caulophacus) serpens sp. nov. (described below) with mostly pinular pentactins as both dermalia and atrialia.

Type species.

Caulophacus (Caulophacus) elegans Schulze, 1886.