Haliclona (Halichoclona) vansoesti

Muricy, Guilherme, Esteves, Eduardo L., Monteiro, Leandro C., Rodrigues, Beatriz Roma & Albano, Rodolpho M., 2015, A new species of Haliclona (Demospongiae: Haplosclerida: Chalinidae) from southeastern Brazil and the first record of Haliclona vansoesti from the Brazilian coast, Zootaxa 3925 (4), pp. 536-550 : 543-547

Haliclona (Halichoclona) vansoesti de Weerdt, de Kluijver & Gomez, 1999

( Figures 3‒4 ; Table 2 )

Synonyms:

Haliclona (Halichoclona) vansoesti de Weerdt, de Kluijver & Gomez, 1999: 49; de Weerdt, 2000: 49; Valderrama & Zea, 2013: 372; Rützler et al., 2014: 80.

Haliclona (Halichoclona) sp., Monteiro & Muricy, 2004: 683.

Diagnosis. Haliclona (Halichoclona) with a very loose connection between ectosome and choanosome, a whitish or cream translucent ectosome combined with a purplish or violet to pink, lavender, or light salmon choanosome, a cavernous structure and a friable or crisp consistency. Microscleres absent.

Material examined. MNRJ 3809, Palmas Island, S shore, Rio de Janeiro, between 6–12 m depth, coll. E. Vilanova, G. Muricy, L. Monteiro, January 11, 2001. MNRJ 3863, Cagarra Islet, NE shore, Rio de Janeiro, between 6–12 m depth, coll. E. Vilanova, G. Muricy, L. Monteiro, January 11, 2001. MNRJ 3915, Cagarra Island, S shore, Rio de Janeiro, coll. L. Monteiro, February 1, 2001. MNRJ 8981, Rasa Island, W shore ("Portinho"), Rio de Janeiro, 10 m depth, coll. L. Monteiro, February 23, 2005. UERJPOR 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, 30 and 34, Maricás Archipelago, 10‒12 m depth, colls. E. L. Esteves & B. Condor, February 14, 2013.

Description ( Figs. 3 A‒I, 4A‒C): Shape thickly encrusting, very irregular, up to 25 cm wide by 1‒3 cm thick, with abundant, short tube-shaped projections 2‒30 mm high topped by circular oscules 2‒10 mm in diameter ( Fig. 3 A‒H). Oscular tubes are cylindrical or vulcaniform, with relatively thin walls (0.5‒2.0 mm thick), slightly translucent ( Fig. 3 I). Some specimens also present blind fistular projections, which are more irregular, lower and thinner than the oscular tubes ( Fig. 3 C‒E). Choanosome color variable from light purple or violet to pink, lavender, light salmon or cream. The surface is translucent, usually whitish or lighter than the choanosome. Below 10 m depth and without artificial illumination the sponge looks light blue ( Fig. 3 H). After fixation it becomes white to cream ( Fig. 4 A‒C). Surface irregular, uneven, reticulate, very loosely connected to the choanosome, easily detachable ( Fig. 4 C). Consistency friable and fragile, slightly compressible, rather inelastic.

Skeleton: Ectosomal skeleton easily detachable, formed by a slightly disorganized isotropic, predominantly paucispicular tangential reticulation of oxeas, slightly denser than that of the choanosome ( Fig. 4 D). Subectosomal and choanosomal lacunae are common ( Fig. 4 E–F). Choanosomal skeleton cavernous, formed by a relatively disorganized isotropic reticulation of oxeas similar to that of the ectosome but mostly unispicular ( Fig. 4 F). Amount of spongin very low in both the choanosome and ectosome.

Spicules: oxeas smooth, fusiform, slightly curved, with acerate or hastate tips: 139.1‒175.5 (± 11.1)–217.5 µm long by 2.4–7.3 (± 1.4)–12.5 µm wide ( Table 2 , Fig. 4 G).

Ecology. Haliclona (Halich.) vansoesti is one of the most common sponge species on the islands off Rio de Janeiro State on horizontal and especially on vertical rocky surfaces, mainly between 10‒20 m depth.

Distribution. Curaçao (type locality), Jamaica, St. Vincent, Martinique (de Weerdt et al., 1999), Colombian Caribbean ( Valderrama & Zea, 2013), Belize (Rützler et al., 2014), and Brazil, where it is reported so far only from Rio de Janeiro State ( Monteiro & Muricy, 2004; present study; Fig. 1 ).

Taxonomic remarks. The specimens from Rio de Janeiro studied here are very similar to Haliclona (Halich.) vansoesti from the Caribbean identified by de Weerdt. et al. (1999), de Weerdt (2000) and Valderrama & Zea (2013). They share the four traits considered most characteristic of the species by de Weerdt et al. (1999) and de Weerdt (2000), and whose combination distinguishes it from all other species of the subgenus: a very loose connection between ectosome and choanosome, a whitish translucent ectosome combined with a purplish choanosome, a cavernous structure and a brittle or crisp consistency. They also share the thick encrusting shape, raised oscules, the general skeletal organization and the shape and size of oxeas. The main differences between them are the greater variation in shape and color, a more irregular surface, and especially the higher oscular tubes in Brazilian specimens when compared to those from the Caribbean (2‒30 mm high in Brazil vs. "slightly raised elevations" in the Caribbean; de Weerdt et al., 1999). We consider these differences as simple intraspecific variations, because the range of variation of these characters in Brazilian specimens is wider and includes the typical morphology of Caribbean specimens. On the other hand, H. (Halich.) vansoesti sensu Rützler et al. (2014) from Bahamas differs from our specimens and from all other records by its black color after fixation in ethanol instead of a whitish cream color and by its slightly longer oxeas: 160–280 µm long in Rützler et al. (2014) specimens vs. 140–218 om in Brazilian specimens (present study), 120–221 µm in the original description (de Weerdt et al., 1999; de Weerdt, 2000), and 166–214 µm in Colombian specimens ( Valderrama & Zea, 2013). The Bahamian specimens studied by Rützler et al. (2014) are thus atypical and may either belong to a sibling species or represent a case of high intraspecific variation. The conspecificity of the southeastern Brazilian and the typical Caribbean specimens of H. (Halich.) vansoesti was confirmed through phylogenetic analysis of molecular data (see below).

Phylogenetic analysis. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree based on the small subunit 18S rRNA gene included three samples of putative H. (Halich.) vansoesti from SE Brazil and representative sequences of each of the five clades described in a recent molecular phylogenetic analysis of Demospongiae that included marine Haplosclerida (= Haploscleromorpha; Redmond et al., 2013). It indicates that sequences of the putative H. (Halich.) vansoesti from SE Brazil form a monophyletic cluster with the same gene sequence from Caribbean ( Panama) specimens of H. (Halich.) vansoesti , with high bootstrap support, falling within phylogenetic clade B of Redmond et al. (2013) ( Fig. 5 ). BLAST searches also showed that Brazilian samples share 99% nucleotide identity with this Caribbean species. They were phylogenetically closer to H. (Halich.) vansoesti than to any other species of Haliclona , further supporting the hypothesis that they belong to the same species. In our analysis we recovered the same five clades (A–E) found by Redmond et al. (2013), and as in their study H. (Halich.) vansoesti fell within clade B.

The maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree based on COI sequences included three samples of putative H. (Halich.) vansoesti from Rio de Janeiro and representative sequences from Redmond et al. (2011) ( Fig. 6 ). In their analysis, Redmond et al. (2011) described two monophyletic clades for this marker: clade A, composed mainly of Haliclona and Callyspongia species and clade B, formed by two Haliclona and Callyspongia species and Amphimedon queenslandica Hooper & van Soest, 2006. In our analysis, the COI sequences for the putative H. (Halich.) vansoesti from SE Brazil form a monophyletic cluster with high bootstrap support outside these two clades that does not include any other Haliclona species.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Location of sites of collection and observation of Haliclona (Halichoclona) vansoesti (asterisks) and Haliclona (Rhizoniera) fugidia sp. nov. (black circle in D) in Rio de Janeiro State, southeastern Brazil. A, South America showing Brazil and Rio de Janeiro State (B) in the inset. B, Rio de Janeiro State showing location of Grande Island (C), Rio de Janeiro (D), and Franceses Island in Arraial do Cabo (asterisk). C, location of Dois Rios Inlet at Grande Island (asterisk). D, Rio de Janeiro and Niterói with location of Vermelha Beach (1, black circle), Tijucas Archipelago (2), Cagarras Archipelago s. l., including Redonda and Rasa Islands (3), and Maricás Archipelago (4).

FIGURE 3. Haliclona (Halichoclona) vansoesti. A ‒ H, specimens in vivo showing variation in color and shape; I, detail of the oscular tubes. H was photographed without artificial illumination at approximately 10 m depth. Scale bars show approximate values.

FIGURE 4. Haliclona (Halichoclona) vansoesti. A ‒ C, preserved specimens (A, UERJPOR 06; B, MNRJ 8981; C, MNRJ 3863). D, tangential section of the ectosome (MNRJ 3863). E, transverse section of the ectosome showing subectosomal lacunae (surface at the top; UERJPOR 06). F, transverse section through choanosome and ectosome (surface at the top; MNRJ 3863). G, oxea (UERJPOR 06).

FIGURE 5. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree of the Haploscleromorpha based on sequences of the small subunit 18 S rRNA gene generated in this study and downloaded from GenBank. Only bootstrap values above 50 % are shown. Clades A – E refer to Redmond et al. (2013) fig. 4.

FIGURE 6. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree of the Haploscleromorpha based on sequences of the COI gene generated in this study and downloaded from GenBank. Only bootstrap values above 50 % are shown. Clades A – B refer to Redmond et al. (2011) fig. 3.

Tables

TABLE 2. Spicule measurements (oxeas length and width in µm) of 11 specimens of Haliclona (Halichoclona) vansoesti from Rio de Janeiro State, SE Brazil. Measurements are expressed as minimum – average (± standard deviation) – maximum. N = 30.

Specimen	Length	Width
MNRJ 3809	146.4 ‒ 162.8 (± 8.8) ‒ 180.0	4.8 ‒ 7.2 (± 1.5) ‒ 9.6
MNRJ 3863	148.8–168.5 (± 11.3) ‒ 192.0	3.6 ‒ 6.7 (± 1.2) ‒ 9.6
MNRJ 3915	170.4–187.3 (± 6.8)–201.6	7.2–9.4 (± 0.6) ‒ 9.6
MNRJ 8981	144.0–161.4 (± 8.4)–180.0	3.6–6.5 (± 1.3)–9.6
UERJPOR 0 6	177.2 ‒ 199.0 (± 11.2)–216.6	5.2–8.8 (± 1.9)–12.0
UERJPOR 0 9	147.0–170.4 (± 12.6) ‒ 195.5	3.5–5.5 (± 1.1)–7.4
UERJPOR 10	156.2–178.8 (± 13.0)–210.3	2.8–6.0 (± 1.8)–10.7
UERJPOR 12	140.4–185.1 (± 20.7)–217.5	3.7–7.6 (± 2.4)–11.2
UERJPOR 15	144.7–172.7 (± 13.8)–195.3	3.7–8.1 (±2.0)–12.5
UERJPOR 30	139.1–158.3 (± 10.8)–176.6	2.6–4.8 (± 1.0)–6.5
UERJPOR 34	181.7 ‒ 189.2 (± 5.1) ‒ 197.2	8.0 ‒ 9.2 (± 0.6)–10.6