Aplysina lacunosa ( Lamarck, 1814 )

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 : 91

Aplysina lacunosa ( Lamarck, 1814)

Tables 6, 7; Figs. 84A–B , 88I

Synonymy and references: Spongia lacunosa Lamarck (1814: 434) , Wiedenmayer (1977: 67), Pinheiro et al. (2007: 25), and Muricy et al. (2011: 176); Aplysina spongelii , Luffaria calyx , Luffaria archeri , Luffaria nuciformis , Luffarea sebae , Verongia archeri , Verongia lacunose : see references compiled in Wiedenmayer (1977: 67) and Muricy et al. (2011: 176); Verongia sp. : see references compiled in Pinheiro et al. (2007: 25), and Muricy et al. (2011: 176); Aplysina archeri , and? Verongia tenuissima : see references compiled in Muricy et al. (2011: 176); Aplysina lacunosa: Gómez (2002: 102) ; Pinheiro et al. (2007: 25), Hajdu et al. (2011: 224), Muricy et al. (2011: 176) Rützler et al. (2009: 307), and Pérez et al. (2017: 9).

Type locality. Unknown.

Material examined. CNPGG-1395, Alacranes reef (22.39622°N, 89.67213°W), 25 m depth, coll. Diana Ugal- de, 01 July 2016. CNPGG-1117 Enmedio reef (19.1017°N, 95.9326°W), 12 m depth, coll. Patricia Gómez, 05 May 2006.

Distribution. Mexico ( Gómez 2002; current records), Bahamas ( Wiedenmayer 1977), US (Florida, de Laubenfels 1953), other countries in the Caribbean Sea, Brazil ( Pinheiro et al. 2007).

Remarks. The wide distribution of Aplysina lacunosa from the GoM to Brazilian waters has been established by Pinheiro et al. (2007) on the basis of several samples examined. All of them, considered conspecific due to their external morphology of tubular habit and surface with rounded, irregular or meandering grooves. These two diagnostic characters are not observed in any other species of the genus ( Pinheiro et al. 2007). The type locality of A. lacunosa is unknown ( Pinheiro et al. 2007). Until now the only records from the GoM are located in Florida ( Laubenfels 1953), and in the Campeche Bank in the south sector ( Gómez 2002). The species is common in coral reefs in the SGoM, observed in Bajos del Norte, Alacranes, Cayo Arcas and Triangulos reefs.

Figures

FIGURE 84. Aplysina lacunosa (Lamarck, 1814) (CNPGG-1395), skeleton and fibers: A. skeleton; B. detail of fibers and pith. Scale bars: A = 500 µm; B = 100 µm

FIGURE 88. In situ photographs of species analyzed in the present study: A. Aiolochroia crassa (Hyatt, 1875) (CNPGG 2250); B. Aiolochroia crassa (Hyatt, 1875) (CNPGG 2205); C. Aplysina cauliformis (Carter, 1882), specimen from Alacranes reef (Campeche Bank), not collected; D. Aplysina fistularis (Pallas, 1766) (CNPGG-1235); E. Aplysina fistularis (Pallas, 1766) (CNPGG-1381); F. Aplysina fulva (Pallas, 1766) (CNPGG-2361); G. Aplysina fulva (Pallas, 1766) (CNPGG-1961); H. Aplysina insularis (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2255); I. Aplysina lacunosa (Lamarck, 1814) (CNPGG-1395); J. Suberea flavolivescens (Hofman & Kielman, 1992) (CNPGG-2169), arrows indicating specimens and surface detail zoomed in; K. Chondrilla caribensis Rützler, Duran & Piantoni, 2007 (CNPGG-2405); L. Chondrosia collectrix (Schmidt, 1870) (CNPGG- 2228). Scale bars, A–L = 1