New Latrunculiidae (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida) from the Agulhas ecoregion of temperate southern Africa Samaai, Toufiek Kelly, Michelle Ngwakum, Benedicta Payne, Robyn Teske, Peter R. Janson, Liesl Kerwath, Sven Parker, Denham Gibbons, Mark J. Zootaxa 2020 2020-12-22 4896 3 409 442 86XCW Samaai, Kelly, Payne Samaai, Kelly, Payne [151,921,151,178] Demospongiae Latrunculiidae Tsitsikamma Animalia Poecilosclerida 15 424 Porifera species amatholensis Tsitsikamma  ( Fig. 10, Tables 1, 3)   Material examined.   Holotype.SAMC-A090878, Amathole region Stn3872, Eastern Cape, 32.950° S, 28.066° E,  40.5 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge,  31 Aug 2016.   Paratypes.SAMC-A090877, Amathole region Stn3813, Eastern Cape, 32.681° S, 28.458° E,  52–55 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge,  26 Aug 2016; SAMC-A090879, Amathole region Stn3872, Eastern Cape, 32.950° S, 28.066° E,  40.5 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge,  31 August 2016; SAMC-A090880, Amathole region Stn3807, Eastern Cape, 33.134° S, 27.768° E,  33 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge,  02 Mar 2016;  SAMC-A090881,  Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, 32.933° S, 28.080° E,  40.5 m, dredge sampling, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge,  31 Aug 2016.   FIGURE 10.  Tsitsikamma( T.) scurra Samaai & Kelly, 2003, holotype NHMUK2003.1.10.3: A. Preserved holotype; B, C. Isospinodiscorhabds from holotype; D. Skeletal architecture from holotype showing the ectosome (dark band) and choanosome of  Tsitsikamma( T.) scurra.  Tsitsikamma( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.: E. Preserved paratype SAMC-A090877; F–H. Isochiadiscorhabds from paratype; I. Preserved holotype SAMC-A090878; J–L. Isochiadiscorhabds from holotype; M. Skeletal architecture of holotype showing ill-formed, irregular reticulation of anisostyles and a single layer of erect isochiadiscorhabds lines the surface of the ectosome.  Other material examined. SAMC-A091436, Evans Peak, Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth, 33.842° S, 25.816° E,  30 m, collected by Rhodes University,  May 2010; SAMC-A091430, SAMC-A091431, SAMC-A091432,  SAMC-A091433, SAMC-A091434, SAMC-A091435, Evans Peak, Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth, 33.842° S, 25.816° E,  30 m, collected by Rhodes University,  May 2010; SAMC-A091437, Amathole region Stn3737, Eastern Cape, 32.751° S, 28.415° E,  31 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge,  23 Feb 2016; SAMC-A091438, Amathole region Stn3807, Eastern Cape, 33.134° S, 27.768° E,  33 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge,  02 Mar 2016; SAMC-A091439, Amathole region Stn3831, Eastern Cape, 32.759° S, 28.411° E,  47 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge,  27 Aug 2016; SAMC-A091440, Amathole region Stn3832, Eastern Cape, 32.759° S, 28.410° E,  45 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge,  27 Aug 2016.    Typelocality. Amathole, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.   Description.Thickly encrusting, sometimes hemispherical, 30 mmlong × 30 mmwide × 20 mmthick attached by a common base to the surface ( Fig. 10). Specimens vary in thickness from 3–30 mm. Surface undulating but smooth and crowded with cylindrical, long lance-shaped oscules similar to those observed in  T. scurra, 5 mmwide, 10 mmhigh and with pedunculate cauliform areolate porefields, 1 mmwide, 2–3 mmhigh, with no membrane. Texture tough, firm. Medium to slightly compressible, tears not easily, difficult to break. Thick ectosome visible, 0.5 mmthick. Colour in life dark brown to dark olive green; in preservative dark brown with green exudate, sometimes cream ( Fig. 10; Table 1).  Skeleton.The choanosome is divided into honeycomb-like chambers, thick reinforced tracts of anisostyles, forming meshes that are elliptical in shape ( Fig. 10). Within and between the chambers and convoluted layers the skeleton consists of an ill-formed, irregular reticulation of small anisostyles; these tracts range in width from 100– 350 μm. Microscleres are isochiadiscorhabds, and these are abundant throughout the choanosome. The ectosome is composed of a thick, dense feltwork of tangential and paratangential anisostyles approximately 100 μm wide. This layer is present in the fistulae, with anisostyles disposed in a compact regular vertical to oblique arrangement supporting the cauliform areolate structures. A single layer (sometimes double layer) of erect isochiadiscorhabds (45 μm wide) lines the surface of the ectosome ( Fig.10).   TABLE 3.Spicule dimensions (μm) of type material of  Tsitsikamma( Tsitsikamma) amatholensis sp. nov.     Specimen  Megasclere I anisostyle  Megasclere II anisostyle  Microscleres isochiadiscorhabd    Tsitsikamma( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.  SAMC-A090878 holotype 721 (681–758) × 19 (19) 584 (509–653) × 19 (19) 45 (38–58) × 7 (4 –7)  SAMC-A090879 paratype 709 (681–758) × 13 (10–14) 629 (595–662) × 11 (10–14) 41 (38–43) × 5 (5)  SAMC-A090881 paratype 730 (681–758) × 16 (14–19) 607 (576–653) × 16 (14–19) 43 (41–53) × 5 (5)  SAMC-A090877 paratype 803 (739–864) × 18 (14–19) 619 (557–672) × 18 (14–19) 45 (41–53) × 7 (7)  SAMC-A090880 paratype 724 (681–768) × 19 (19) 579 (528–654) × 19 (19) 50 (46–55) × 7 (7)  SAMC-A091438 734 (691–768) × 12 (10–14) 606 (528–653) × 12 (10–14) 47 (43–48) × 6 (6)  SAMC-A091437 720 (672–758) × 19 (19) 627 (587–662) × 19 (19) 43 (36–46) × 6 (6)  SAMC-A091439 759 (720–806) × 19 (19) 622 (585–652) × 19 (19) 39 (36–41) × 7 (7)  SAMC-A091440 712 (682–749) × 19 (19) 633 (605–662) × 19 (19) 39 (36–43) × 5 (5)  SAMC-A091435 721 (691–758) × 19 (19) 602 (528–653) × 19 (19) 51 (48–55) × 7 (7)  SAMC-A091431 713 (672–739) × 19 (19) 618 (576–662) × 19 (19) 52 (46–62) × 7 (7)  SAMC-A091436 707 (672–749) × 19 (19) 627 (585–672) × 19 (19) 34 (31–36) × 5 (5)  Spicules( Table 1, 3). Megascleres are anisostyles, in two size categories: (1) straight or slightly sinuous, thickened centrally, fusiform, 721 (681–758) × 19.2 (19.2) μm; (2) straight or slightly sinuous, thickened centrally, fusiform: 584 (509–653) × 19.2 (19.2) μm. Microscleres are isochiadiscorhabds with three whorls of cylindrical-conical tubercles, the apex of each tubercular projection is acanthose: 45 (38–58) × 7 (4 –7) μm ( Fig. 10).   Distribution.Southeast Agulhas ecoregion from Port Elizabeth to East London, South Africa.  Substratum, depth range and ecology.Locally common off East London, Amathole region and Port Elizabeth, Evans Peaks, at a depth range of 30 to 55 min areas with strong current.  DNA sequence data.We sequenced partial COI of collected material from different localities; GenBank accession numbers: COI MK153277– MK153284.   Etymology. The species name reflects the typelocality, Amathole, a district in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. “Amathole” means “calves” in the Xhosa language, and refers to the forested mountain range that forms the northern boundary of the district.   Remarks.  Tsitsikamma( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.was first collected in 2010 but identified only as “  Tsitsikammasp. undescribed” based on the external morphological characteristics and isochiadiscorhabd structure (TS unpublished data) of the specimens. Matcher et al. (2017)generated partial 28S rRNA sequences for six  Tsitsikammaspecimens collected from the same locations as the 2009/2010 collections and confirmed the presence of two unidentified  Tsitsikammaspecies (see Table 1and Fig. 3bin Matcher et al. 2017). Parker-Nance et al. (2019) described a new species from these collections (Evans Peak) as  T. michaeli, an observation we confirmed after re-examining all the Walmsley/Matcher specimens (Supplementary Table S1). The other Walmsley et al. (2012)specimens were identified as  T. ( T.) favusby TS. The second unidentified  Tsitsikammasp. is here described as a specimen of  Tsitsikamma( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.   Tsitsikamma( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.differs from  T.( T.) favus ,  T.( T.) scurraand  T.( T.) nguniin the following characteristics: 1)  Tsitsikamma( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.is dark brown to dark olive green in situ, and has large hollow lance-shaped oscules and numerous short stalked cauliform porefields, while  T.( T.) favusis turquoise to dark brown, semispherical and with short surface extensions,  T.( T.) scurrais lime green with a brownish surface in situ, and has long, hollow, strappy oscular fistules and  T.( T.) nguniis dark slate-coloured with small short, blunt rounded knob-shaped or button-like oscula; 2)  Tsitsikamma( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.is thickly encrusting, sometimes hemispherical with a thick ectosome, while  Tsitsikamma( T.) scurrahas a folded globular thick encrusting growth structure with thin sandpaper-like ectosome ( Samaai et al. 2006; Parker-Nance et al. 2019),  T.( T.) favusand  T.( T.) ngunihas a thickly encrusting, globular to semi-spherical morphology with a dense, thick ectosome; 3)  Tsitsikamma( T.) scurrahas larger, thicker anisostyles [thick 829 (774–882) × 24 μm; thin 669 (585–738) × 17 μm] than  Tsitsikamma( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.[thick 721 (681–758) × 19.2 (19.2) μm; thin 584 (509–653) × 19.2 (19.2) μm] while  T.( T.) favus[thick 621 (537–700) × 14 (14) μm; thin 530 (480–566) × 9.6 (9.6) μm] and  T.( T.) nguni[thick 555 (428–672) × 14 (10–19) μm; thin 561 (449–832) × 10 (3–14) μm] are smaller than those of  T.( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.and thinner on average (see Tables 1, 2, 3); 4) the isochiadiscorhabds with long cylindrical, conical tubercles are similar in size found in  T.( T.) scurra[41 (38–45) × 8 μm], but smaller in average than those in  T.( T.) favus[48 (41–60) × 9 (7.2–9.6) μm] and  T.( T.) nguni( Tables 1, 2, 3; Fig. 5, 9, 10); 5). The number of cylindrical-conical tubercles surrounding the apical whorl and manubrium in  T. ( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.is six per group, oppose to three and four to six per group surrounding the manubrium only in  T. ( T.) favusin  T. ( T.) nguni, respectively (Parker-Nance et al. 2019). Apart from this, the cylindrical-conical tubercles also differ;  T.( T.) favusand  T. ( T.) ngunipossess two pairs, while  T. ( T.) scurraand  T. ( T.) amatholensispossess three pairs arranged in a triangle; 6) The distribution of the two species is disparate:  Tsitsikamma( T.) scurrais recorded from Hout Bay in the southern Benguela ecoregion while  T.( T.) favus ,  T.( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.and  T. ( T.) nguniare recorded from the Agulhas ecoregion. In Algoa Bay  T.( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.is sympatric with  T.( T.) favus,  T. pedunculataand  T. michaeliand in Amathole the species is sympatric with the other new species (as described below), and can be differentiated on subtle differences in colour, gross morphology and isochiadiscorhabd morphology. The gross morphology of  T. pedunculataand  T. michaeliare, however, quite different from those of  T.( T.) favusand  T.( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov., forming the basis for establishment in this work of a new subgenus  Tsitsikamma( Clavicaulis)  subgen. nov. There was no intraspecific genetic diversity for the COI gene sequences for specimens of  T. ( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.and no interspecific genetic diversity for  T. ( T.) amatholensis  sp. nov.,  T.( T.) favusand the other specimens. 3005534367 2016-08-31 RV Ellen Khuzwayo & R. Payne 41 -32.95 Stn 72 28.066 Amathole region 15 424 1 Eastern Cape holotype 3005534352 2016-08-26 RV Ellen Khuzwayo & R. Payne 54 -32.681 Stn 72 28.458 Amathole region 15 424 1 Eastern Cape paratype 3005534310 2016-08-31 RV Ellen Khuzwayo & R. Payne 41 -32.95 Stn 72 28.066 Amathole region 15 424 1 Eastern Cape paratype 3005534326 2016-03-02 SAMC- RV Ellen Khuzwayo & R. Payne 33 -33.134 Stn 72 27.768 Amathole region 15 424 A090881 1 Eastern Cape paratype 3005534305 2016-08-31 RV Ellen Khuzwayo & R. Payne 41 -32.933 Port Alfred 72 28.08 15 424 1 Eastern Cape paratype 3005534372 2010-05 Rhodes University Evans Peak 30 -33.842 Port Elizabeth 72 25.816 Algoa Bay 15 424 1 3005534317 2010-05 SAMC- Rhodes University Evans Peak 30 -33.842 Port Elizabeth 72 25.816 Algoa Bay 15 424 A091433 1 3005534371 2016-02-23 RV Ellen Khuzwayo & R. Payne 31 -32.751 Stn 72 28.415 Amathole region 15 424 1 Eastern Cape 3005534368 2016-03-02 RV Ellen Khuzwayo & R. Payne 33 -33.134 Stn 72 27.768 Amathole region 15 424 1 Eastern Cape 3005534349 2016-08-27 RV Ellen Khuzwayo & R. Payne 47 -32.759 Stn 72 28.411 Amathole region 15 424 1 Eastern Cape 3005534312 2016-08-27 RV Ellen Khuzwayo & R. Payne 45 -32.759 Stn 72 28.41 Amathole region 15 424 1 Eastern Cape 3005534365 [199,905,1812,1839] South Africa Amathole 15 424 1 Eastern Cape holotype