Mycale lampra ( De Laubenfels, 1954 ) Van & Aryasari & De, 2021

Van, Rob W. M., Aryasari, Ratih & De, Nicole J., 2021, Mycale species of the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Porifera, Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida), Zootaxa 4912 (1), pp. 1-212 : 191-193

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.4912.1.1

publication LSID

lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9536C1CF-4AEF-47F8-959B-48CD7A5392D8

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4464433

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/361087A7-FF7B-FF60-55AB-FE7F51E9C819

treatment provided by

Plazi (2021-01-19 19:56:07, last updated 2024-11-25 23:38:48)

scientific name

Mycale lampra ( De Laubenfels, 1954 )
status

comb. nov.

Mycale lampra ( De Laubenfels, 1954) View in CoL comb.nov.

Figs 125 View FIGURE 125 a–e, 126a–e

Desmacella lampra De Laubenfels, 1954: 150 , fig. 98. Material examined. Holotype USNM 23088 About USNM , Lemotol Bay , W Part Chuuk Lagoon, East Caroline Islands, depth 4 m, coll. M.W. De Laubenfels, ‘by diver’.

ZMA Por. 07930a, Indonesia, SE Sulawesi, Tukang Besi Islands , southern reef of Karang Kaledupa, 5.93333S 123.8°E, depth 2–6 m, snorkeling, coll GoogleMaps . R. W.M. van Soest, Indonesian-Dutch Snellius II Expedition , stat. 16, field nr. 016 / II/22 , 6 September 1984 (dark-brown) .

Description ( Fig. 125a View FIGURE 125 , 126a View FIGURE 126 ). Dark-brown sponge (ZMA specimen, cf. Fig. 125a View FIGURE 125 ), thinly encrusting on dead Acropora coral, with smooth surface. Preserved the color is warm beige, much lighter than in life. The holotype ( Fig. 126a View FIGURE 126 ) was described as ‘fiery orange red’, it is yellow in preserved condition. No apparent oscules. Size of ZMA specimen 4 x 1 x 0.5 cm, but the holotype was 10–20 cm. Consistency soft.

Skeleton ( Figs 125 View FIGURE 125 b–c, 126b,b1). The condition of the skeleton is indefinite, between the arrangement found in subgenera Aegogropila (ectosomal reticulation), Mycale (tangential ectosomal skeleton of single spicules) and Carmia (choanosomal spicule bundles thin, not interconnected, skeleton lax). Bundles of megascleres consist of 2–3 spicules and near the surface these diverge to carry the tangential reticulation. The holotype skeleton is slightly more organized, with spicule tracts thicker. Microscleres only sigmas.

Spicules ( Figs 125 View FIGURE 125 d–e, 126c–e). Mycalostyles, sigmas, no anisochelae.

Mycalostyles ( Figs 125d,d View FIGURE 125 1,126d,d1), straight or slightly curved, thin, with elongate head and barely narrowed neck, 249– 272.8 –289 x 2– 3.1 – 5 µm.

Sigmas ( Figs 125e View FIGURE 125 , 126c,e View FIGURE 126 ), thin, symmetrically curved, with slightly incurved apices, not clearly divisible into two sizes ( Fig. 126c View FIGURE 126 ), 15– 18.8 – 30 µm, those of the holotype were more elongate but had similarly incurved endings ( Fig. 126e View FIGURE 126 ).

Distribution and ecology. Banda Sea, Indonesia, Chuuk Lagoon (East Caroline Islands, Micronesia), shallowwater lagoons.

Remarks. There are several ‘ Desmacella ’ species described with a skeleton and spicule shapes and sizes similar to Mycale , but lacking anisochelae. Examples are Central West Atlantic Desmacella jania Verrill, 1907 and D. meliorata Wiedenmayer, 1977 . Van Soest (1984: 27) suspected such sponges could belong to Mycale species, which lost their anisochelae or possessed these quite rarely. It is here suggested that Desmacella lampra is a Pacific representative of such deficient Mycale species. Independent support for this hypothesis is the fact that Redmond et al. ’s (2013) (p. 409, fig. 15) molecular phylogeny of the Poecilosclerida found Desmacella lampra positioned right in the middle of a clade of approximately 25 Mycale sequences belonging to at least five different subgenera, away from proper Desmacella species.

De Laubenfels’ description is slightly different from our specimen, so it is possible the two are close but not conspecific. De Laubenfels’ specimen was much larger, had a ‘fiery red-orange’ color in life. The sigmas, although in the same size range as our specimen, were suggested to be divisible into a smaller (13 µm) and a larger (30–33 µm) size. However, our fragment of the holotype did not contain these two size categories, as they were variable in size but we could not find many small sigmas. The skeleton described by De Laubenfels had only vague megasclere tracts, apparently lacking a reticulate ectosomal arrangement. We believe our specimen is likely a thinner and smaller specimen of the same species, but some doubt remains.

The subgenus affiliation is not clear. Redmond et al. ’s (2013) Desmacella lampra sequence suggested membership of subgenus Mycale (Carmia) , but only few sequences were used in the tree. Our specimen is technically a Mycale (Mycale) , but the tangential ectosomal skeleton is not typical for the subgenus as it is unispicular. The other ‘ Desmacella ’ specimens described by De Laubenfels and Wiedenmayer do not specify the ectosomal skeleton to the extent that we can classify them to a subgenus. It seems prudent to leave subgenus affiliation undecided for the time being, but subgenus Mycale (Carmia) would seem to fit best, both morphologically and molecularly.

General discussion

De Laubenfels, M. W. de (1954) The Sponges of the West-Central Pacific. Oregon State Monographs, Studies in Zoology, 7, i-x + 1 - 306, pls. I-XII. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 6516

Van Soest, R. W. M. (1984) Marine sponges from Curacao and other Caribbean localities. Part III. Poecilosclerida. In: Hummelinck, P. W. & Van der Steen, L. J. (Eds.), Uitgaven van de Natuurwetenschappelijke Studiekring voor Suriname en de Nederlandse Antillen. No. 112. Studies on the Fauna of Curacao and other Caribbean Islands, 66 (199), 1 - 167.

Verrill, A. E. (1907) The Bermuda Islands: Part V. An account of the Coral Reefs (Characteristic Life of the Bermuda Coral Reefs). Porifera: Sponges. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 12, 330 - 344, pls. 35 C-D. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. part. 28921

Wiedenmayer, F. (1977) Shallow-water sponges of the western Bahamas. Experientia Supplementum, 28, 1 - 287, pls. 1 - 43.

Gallery Image

FIGURE 125. Mycale lampra (De Laubenfels, 1954), ZMA Por. 07930a from Karang Kaledupa, Banda Sea, Indonesia, a, preserved habitus (scale bar = 1 cm), b–c, light microscopic images of the skeleton, b, cross section through peripheral region, c, tangential view of ectosomal skeleton, d–e, SEM images of the spicules, d, mycalostyle, d1, details of mycalostyle, e, sigma.

Gallery Image

FIGURE 126. Mycale lampra (De Laubenfels, 1954), holotype USNM 23088 from Chuuk Lagoon, Mid Pacific, a, preserved habitus of fragment (scale bar = 1 cm), b–b1, light microscopic images of cross sections of the skeleton, b, skeletal tracts, b1, detail of surface region, c–e, SEM images of the spicules, c, overview of spicules showing a variable but single size of sigmas, d, mycalostyle, d1, details of mycalostyle, e, sigma.

ZMA

Universiteit van Amsterdam, Zoologisch Museum

R

Departamento de Geologia, Universidad de Chile

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Porifera

Class

Demospongiae

Order

Poecilosclerida

Family

Mycalidae

Genus

Mycale

SubGenus

Mycale