Clathrina delicata, Fontana & Cóndor-Luján & Azevedo & Pérez & Klautau, 2018

Fontana, Tayara, Cóndor-Luján, Báslavi, Azevedo, Fernanda, Pérez, Thierry & Klautau, Michelle, 2018, Diversity and distribution patterns of Calcareous sponges (subclass Calcinea) from Martinique, Zootaxa 4410 (2), pp. 331-369 : 346-348

Clathrina delicata sp. nov.

( Figure 7 , Table 7)

Diagnosis. Clathrina with triactines of three size classes with cylindrical to slightly conical actines.

Etymology. From the Latin delicata (= slender), for the thin actines of the spicules.

Type Locality. Anse Noire , Anses d'Arlet, Martinique.

Type Material. ( Three specimens) Holotype: UFRJPOR 7841, Anse Noire, Anses d´ Arlet, Martinique, (14°32.024' N – 61°05.278' W), collected by B. Cóndor-Luján, 14 May 2015, 6 m depth . Paratypes: UFRJPOR 7656, Sud Anse Couleuvre, Martinique (14°50.450' N – 061°13.520' W), collected by F. Azevedo, 23 April 2015 , 17.9 m depth. UFRJPOR 7666, Le Rocher du Diamant , Martinique (14°26.556' N – 61°2.408' W), collected by F. Azevedo, 25 April 2015 , 18.8 m depth.

Other Material Examined. (Three specimens) UFRJPOR 7840, Anse Noire, Anses d´Arlet, Martinique (14°32.024' N – 61°05.278' W), collected by B. Cóndor-Luján, 14 May 2015, 11 m depth. UFRJPOR 7668, Le Rocher du Diamant, Martinique (14°26.556' N – 61°2.408' W), collected by F. Azevedo, 25 April 2015, 18.8 m depth. UFRJPOR 7844, Pointe Burgos, Anses d'Arlet, Martinique (14°29.787' N – 61°5.351' W), collected by B. Cóndor-Luján, 14 May 2015, 6 m depth.

Colour. White alive and light yellow in ethanol.

Description. The specimen from Martinique has a clathroid body formed by large, irregular and loosely transparent anastomosed tubes ( Figure 7A–B ). Water collecting-tubes are not present. No cells with granules were found. Aquiferous system asconoid.

Skeleton. The skeleton is disorganised, composed of three categories of triactines ( Figure 7C ).

Spicules ( Table 7).

*From Klautau & Valentine (2003).**From Azevedo et al. (2015).

Triactine I: Regular. Actines are slightly conical with sharp tips ( Figure 7D ). Size: 25.0–65.0/3.7–5.0 µm. Triactine II: Regular. They are very abundant. Actines are cylindrical with sharp tips. They are predominantly straight, but some are slightly undulated ( Figure 7E ). Size: 95.0–167.5/6.2–8.7 µm. Triactine III: Regular. These spicules are rare. Actines are slightly conical with sharp tips ( Figure 7F ). Size: 195.0–250.0/12.5–20.0 µm.

Ecology. Specimens of this species were found inside a cave. One of them was growing on a blue Demospongiae.

Remarks. Until now the species of Clathrina with triactines of three size categories were C. laminoclathrata Carter, 1886 and Clathrina nuroensis Azevedo et al., 2015 . The colour of C. laminoclathrata alive is unknown and as the lectotype was preserved dry it is not possible to be sure about the anastomosis of the tubes. However, it can be differentiated from C. delicata sp. nov. by the shape of the spicules, which are conical in C. laminoclathrata and varies from cylindrical to slightly conical in the new species. Besides, the spicules of the new species are thinner than those of C. laminoclathrata ( Table 7). In C. nuroensis , water-collecting tubes are present, while in C. delicata sp. nov. they are absent. In addition, the Peruvian species presents slightly conical to conical spicules, and the size of the spicules is smaller when compared to the spicules of C. delicata sp. nov. ( Table 7). In the phylogenetic tree ( Figure 17 ), C. delicata sp. nov. grouped with C. cylindractina with bootstrap of 90% and presented a p-distance of 3.1%. This distance is considered interspecific, with the smallest interspecific distance to the Clathrina in this tree of 0.3% ( C. blanca vs. C. ramosa ).

Geographical distribution. Anse Noire, Anses d'Arlet, Martinique.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Clathrina delicata sp. nov. (UFRJPOR 7841). A. Specimen in situ (UFRJPOR 7656). B. Specimen in ethanol. C. Tangential section. D. Triactines I. E. Triactine II variation.F.Triactine III.

FIGURE17. Maximum Likelihood tree of the C-LSU nuclear marker.Bootstrap values are shown on thebranches.Sequences generatedin the present study are marked with an asterisk.