Agelas dispar Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864

Ugalde, Diana, Fernandez, Julio C. C., Gómez, Patricia, Lôbo-Hajdu, Gisele & Simões, Nuno, 2021, An update on the diversity of marine sponges in the southern Gulf of Mexico coral reefs, Zootaxa 5031 (1), pp. 1-112 : 11

Agelas dispar Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864

Tables 6, 7; Figs. 4A–C , 16C

Synonymy and references: Agelas dispar Duchassaing & Michelotti (1864: 76) , Muricy et al. (2011: 37), Parra- Velandia et al. (2014: 306), Rützler et al. (2014: 77) and Pérez et al. (2017: 11); Agelas sparsus : see references compiled in Muricy et al. (2011: 38) and Parra-Velandia et al. (2014: 306); Agelas sparsus var. clavaeformis , Agelas dispar f. clavaeformis and Agelas sp. 2 , see references compiled in Parra-Velandia et al. (2014: 306).

Type locality. The Virgin Islands .

Material examined. CNPGG-1309, CNPGG-1698, Alacranes reef (22.45838°N, 89.61122°W), 10–11 m depth, coll. Nuno Simões, 10 August 2016 ; CNPGG-2007, Cayo Arcas reef (20.20361°N, - 91.97611°W), 10 m depth, coll. Diana Ugalde, 30 August 2016 .

Description. Massive habit to lobate ( Fig. 16C ), size 17 × 10 cm. Surface: smooth, pierced by pores. Oscules are round with slightly elevated collars, 0.5 to 1 cm in diameter. Brown color in vivo, and brown after preservation in ethanol. Consistency is elastic and compressible.

Skeleton. A regular reticulation of spongin fibers; with meshes 250 to 360 µm wide ( Fig. 4A ). Primary fibers cored (1–9 spicules per cross-section) and echinated; diameters 50–120 µm. Secondary fibers are not cored and less echinated than primaries, 30–70 µm diameter, and some fibers are free of spicules ( Fig. 4B ).

Spicules. Megascleres: Acanthostyles are usually slightly curved 83–104 (13.5) –130/3.9– 5.4 (1.1) –7.8 µm ( Fig. 4C ).

Distribution. Mexico (current records), US (Florida)(de Laubenfels 1936), Bahamas, Cuba ( Alcolado 1976), other countries in the Caribbean Sea to Brazil ( Parra-Velandia et al. 2014).

Remarks. Our specimens correlate with those reported in the Caribbean region by Parra-Velandia et al. (2014). Some records assigned to A. dispar need to be reassigned to their correct species, as in the case of A. dispar from Veracruz reported by Green et al. (1986). We examined the specimens of Green et al. (1986) deposited in the CNPGG, and they corresponded indeed to A. sventres , as has been reassigned by Parra-Velandia et al. (2014). Therefore, our specimens are the first record of Agelas dispar in the SGoM.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Agelas dispar Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 (CNPGG-1345), skeleton and spicules:A. transversal section of the skeleton; B. detail of the choanosomal region; C. verticillated acanthostyles. Scale bars: A = 500 µm; B = 100 µm; C = 50 µm.

FIGURE 16. In situ photographs of species analyzed in the present study: A. Agelas clathrodes (Schmidt, 1870) (CNPGG- 2297); B. Agelas conifera (Schmidt, 1870) (CNPGG-2373); C. Agelas dispar Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 (CNPGG-2007); D. Agelas schmidtii Wilson, 1902 (CNPGG-2285);E. Agelas sventres Lehnert & van Soest, 1996 (CNPGG-2285); F. Agelas wiedenmayeri Alcolado, 1984 (CNPGG-2476); G. Prosuberites carriebowensis Rützler, Piantoni, van Soest & Díaz, 2014 (CNPGG-2211); H. Ectyoplasia ferox (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2407); I. Ectyoplasia ferox (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2240); J. Dragmacidon reticulatum (Ridley & Dendy, 1886) (CNPGG-2283); K. Ptilocaulis walpersii (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2171); L. Myrmekioderma rea (de Laubenfels, 1934) (CNPGG-2261); M. Neofibularia nolitangere (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2206); N. Desmanthus meandroides van Soest & Hajdu, 2000 (CNPGG-2389); O. Cliona aprica Pang, 1973 (CNPGG-2298). Scale bars, A–O = 1 cm.