Igernella notabilis ( 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 : 81-82

Igernella notabilis ( Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864)

Tables 6, 7; Figs. 74A–B , 79D

Synonymy and references: Euryades notabilis Duchassaing & Michelotti (1864: 106) ; Darwinella joyeuxi Topsent (1889:17) ; Igernella notabilis: Muricy et al. (2011: 55) , Rützler et al. (2014: 96), Pérez et al. (2017: 9), and van Soest (2017: 18); Darwinella joyeuxi , Euryades notabilis , Igernella joyeuxi : see references compiled in Muricy et al. (2011: 55).

Type locality. St. Thomas .

Material examined. CNPGG-1133, Alacranes reef (22.3670°N, 89.6751°W), 12 m depth, coll. Patricia Gómez, 03 August 2012 ; CNPGG-1770, Sisal reef (21.4416°N, 90.2913°W), 12 m depth, coll. Diana Ugalde, 24 January 2013 ; CNPGG-2234, Triangulo Este reef (20.90°N, 92.2340°W), 10 m depth, coll. Deneb Ortigosa, 11 August 2017 ; CNPGG-2244, CNPGG-2252, Triangulo Oeste reef (20.95178°N, 92.30963°W), 9–23 m depth, coll. Oscar Bocardo, 09 September 2017 ; CNPGG-2295, Banco Obispo Norte reef (20.49111°N, 92.20296°W), 14 m depth, coll. Oscar Bocardo, 13 September 2017 .

Distribution. Mexico ( Topsent 1889 as Darwinella joyeuxi ; current records), Bermuda ( Rützler et al. 2014) , Cuba ( Alcolado 2002), other countries in the Caribbean Sea; Guyana, and Brazil ( van Soest 2017).

Remarks. Only three species of Igernella have been reported worldwide: Igenella mirabilis Lévi 1961 from the Indo-Pacific, I. vansoesti Uriz & Maldonado 1996 from Cape Verde, and the current I. notabilis . We agree with the comment by van Soest (2017) on the need to verify the presence of I. vansoesti from Cape Verde reported in the GoM, since both materials differ in habit and skeletal measurements. Igernella notabilis has been reported in Campeche by Topsent (1889), and is a common species in the coral reefs of the area. The distinctive habit of the species in the GoM region was the presence of short tubes joined in a row, a common form in other parts of the Caribbean. There is only one report with encrusting shape 5 mm thick, due to its juvenile state ( Rutzler et al. 2014).

Order Dictyoceratida Minchin, 1900

Figures

FIGURE 74. Igernella notabilis (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2234), skeleton and spongin spicules: A. transversal section of the skeleton with an irregular reticulation of fibers in the choanosomal region; B. spongin spicules. Scale bars: A–B = 500 µm.

FIGURE 79. In situ photographs of species analyzed in the present study: A. Erylus formosus Sollas, 1886 (CNPGG-2202); B. Cinanchyrella apion (Uliczka, 1929) (CNPGG-2189); C. Cinanchyrella kuekenthali (Uliczka, 1929) (CNPGG-2190); D. Igernella notabilis (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (CNPGG-2234); E. Dysidea etheria de Laubenfels, 1936 (CNPGG-2199); F. Ircinia strobilina (Lamarck, 1816) (not collected) G. Ircinia strobilina (Lamarck, 1816) (CNPGG-2263); H. Hyattella cavernosa (Pallas, 1766) (CNPGG-2260); I. Spongia (S.) obscura Hyatt, 1877 (CNPGG-2177). Scale bars, A–H = 1 cm.