Aiolochroia crassa ( Hyatt, 1875 ), 2250

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 : 87

Aiolochroia crassa ( Hyatt, 1875)

Tables 6, 7; Figs. 88A–B

Synonymy and references: Dendrospongia crassa Hyatt (1875: 401) , and Muricy et al. (2011: 171); Dendrospongia crassa Hyatt (1875: 401) ; Ianthella basta de Laubenfels (1936: 31) ; Verongula ardis Wiedenmayer (1977: 78) ; Aplysina crassa , Aplysina fulva and Aplysina janusi , Ianthella ardis , Ianthella ianthella , Pseudoceratina crassa: Green et al. (1986: 141) , Gómez & Green (1984: 74), Verongia crassa , and Verongia janusi : see references compiled in Muricy et al. (2011: 171); Aiolochroia crassa: Wiedenmayer (1977: 75) , Gómez (2002: 104), Rützler et al. (2009: 307), Hajdu et al. (2011: 221), Muricy et al. (2011: 171), Pérez et al. (2017: 9), and van Soest (2017: 16).

Type locality. Bahamas (Nassau) .

Material examined. CNPGG-1898, Alacranes reef (22.55675°N, 89.78405°W), 15 m depth, coll. Diana Ugal- de, 03 July 2016 ; CNPGG-1324, Madagascar reef (21.44119°N, 90.29277°W), 8.5 m depth, coll. Patricia Gómez, 10 August 2016 .

Distribution. Mexico ( Green et al. 1986; Gómez 2002, 2007, 2011; De la Cruz-Francisco & Bandala-Pérez 2016; current records), Bermuda (de Laubenfels 1950) ; Bahamas ( Wiedenmayer 1977), US (Florida), other countries in the Caribbean Sea, Guyana, and Brazil ( van Soest 2017).

Remarks. Aiolochroia Wiedenmayer, 1977 has three known species; one in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Aiolochroia thiona (de Laubenfels, 1930) ; two in the western Atlantic, Aiolochroia janusi ( Boury-Esnault, 1973) and Aiolochroia crassa ( Hyatt, 1875) . Aiolochroia crassa is characterized by its yellow, orange, green, or purplish color in vivo, a surface with rounded tubercles that surround depressions which give it a polygonal appearance, and fibers in a dendritic pattern with some reticulated areas in the subsurface region ( Bergquist et al. 2002). Aiolochroia crassa is a common inhabitant of the coral reefs in the GoM, recorded in the Veracruz reefs ( Gómez 2007, 2011), Campeche Bank ( Gómez 2002), and in the northern GoM ( Storr 1976).

Genus Aplysina Nardo, 1834

Figures

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