Porifera from Ponta do Ouro (Mozambique) Author Calcinai, Barbara C16E9433-A532-470E-B9A6-7FE9B9F4FEC3 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy. b.calcinai@staff.univpm.it Author Belfiore, Giuseppe D26DFB86-3168-4B13-915A-D19B025143F4 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy. gbelf89@hotmail.it Author Pica, Daniela 67CA8471-D9AE-414B-802E-7858C6B49C62 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy. daniela.pica@gmail.com Author Torsani, Fabrizio 79D7D36F-1A9B-4D43-B2A1-B671719F2D93 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy. f.torsani@univpm.it Author Palma, Marco 96B40C66-6E70-45D6-A065-0BCEF4565A64 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy. 2marco.palma@gmail.com Author Cerrano, Carlo C1E63119-46EC-456A-BB00-824293B00828 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy. c.cerrano@staff.univpm.it text European Journal of Taxonomy 2020 2020-08-06 698 1 56 journal article 10.5852/ejt.2020.698 be802d18-f06f-4e22-9856-8b037f21ca52 2118-9773 3978511 623BBCE3-12A5-45A9-802A-2ED2E15164A3 Amphimedon brevispiculifera ( Dendy, 1905 ) Fig. 9 Pachychalina brevispiculifera Dendy, 1905: 149 , pl 10 fig. 7. Material examined PONTA DO OURO2 branches , about 4 cm long, alcohol preserved; 26°49′55.65″ S , 32°53′13.417″ E ; Three Sisters; 23.9 m deep; 21 Feb. 2017 ; Cerrano leg.; PO65 . Description The live sponge is arborescent, with flattened branches often anastomosing ( Fig. 9A ); oscules are numerous and concentrated on the upper margin of the branches ( Fig. 9A ). Light purple in vivo , the specimen conserved in alcohol is pale yellow; the surface is smooth, the consistence is firm and elastic. The preserved sample consists of two small fragments; the biggest being a small branch about 4 cm long and 1.5 cm thick. Fig. 9. Amphimedon brevispiculifera ( Dendy, 1905 ) . A . Specimen PO65 in situ . B . Ectosomal skeleton. C . Choanosomal skeleton. D . Oxea. SKELETON. Ectosome ( Fig. 9B ) formed by multispicular fibers, rich in spongin, with the diameter ranging between 20 and 75 μm, creating irregular, rounded meshes of 100–200 μm. Echinating spicules, at the end of the choanosomal primary fibers, protrude at the nodes. Choanosome ( Fig. 9C ) consists of multispicular primary fibers as well as multispicular secondary fibers, of about the same thickness (20–90 μm in diameter), forming rectangular meshes (average of 100 ×175 μm). SPICULES. Short, stout and sharp oxeas, 80–(88.5, 4.4)–95×2.5–(2.75, 1.3)–3 μm ( Fig. 9D ). Remarks Out of 57 species of the genus Amphimedon , 30 are recorded in the Indo-Pacific Ocean ( Van Soest et al . 2019 ). The examined specimen fits with A. brevispiculifera described from the Gulf of Manaar. They share the same general morphology, disposition of the oscules and the short dimension of the spicules (100 × 5.5 μm); the species name “ brevispiculifera ” means ‘with short spicules’. All the other species of Amphimedon in the Indo-Pacific Ocean are characterized by longer oxeas. The present specimen is apparently morphologically similar to the sponge recently recorded by Samaai et al. (2019) in South Africa and named Callyspongia ( Cladochalina ) diffusa sensu Samaai et al. (2019) . This species was previously known only from South India and Sri Lanka ( Laccadive Sea); thus, it is the first record since its original description and a new record for the studied area.