Spheciospongia ndabazithe Samaai, Pillay & Janson, 2019

Calcinai, Barbara, Belfiore, Giuseppe, Pica, Daniela, Torsani, Fabrizio, Palma, Marco & Cerrano, Carlo, 2020, Porifera from Ponta do Ouro (Mozambique), European Journal of Taxonomy 698, pp. 1-56 : 30-31

Spheciospongia ndabazithe Samaai, Pillay & Janson, 2019

Fig. 16

Spheciospongia ndabazithe Samaai, Pillay & Janson, 2019: 19 , fig. 6a–g.

Material examined

PONTA DO OURO • 1 portion of 7×3 × 1 cm; 26°46′38.829″ S, 32°54′17.384″ E; Waynes; 40.6 m deep; 17 Feb. 2017; Cerrano leg.; PO52 .

Description

Massive sponge ( Fig. 16 A–B), cup-shaped, light beige in the external and darker in the internal side. The alcohol preserved fragment is hard and incompressible, with a grey surface and a compact darker body.

SKELETON. Ectosome and choanosome confused, rich in sediments.

SPICULES. Slim tylostyles sometimes curved towards the pointed tip ( Fig. 16C ), 250–(332)–410 μm×4– (7.3)–10 μm wide; sometimes they are modified in curved styles with acerate tips ( Fig. 16C ); spirasters variable in shapes ( Fig. 16D ) with an average length of 12.5 μm: C-shaped with many spines along the convex side, straight and smooth with groups of spines at the extremities and longer, S-shaped spirasters with spines scattered along the axis.

Remarks

Our specimen perfectly fits the species recently described from South Africa by Samaai et al. (2019), with the exception of a larger variety of spirasters present in the specimen from Punta do Ouro.

Figures

Fig. 16. Spheciospongia ndabazithe Samaai et al., 2019. A. Specimen PO52 in situ. B. The cut highlights the compact, darker choanosome. C. Tylostyles in different shapes. D. Spirasters variable in shapes.