taxonID	type	description	language	source
BA0487F87E174153FF7FF828FF897FE0.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Thickly encrusting, cushion-shaped, ramose or tubular growth forms; cushion-shaped sponges commonly with oscular chimneys or mounds. Consistency soft to rather firm, also spongy. Colour purple, violet, pink, brown, blue or green, occasionally white. Megascleres smooth oxeas or strongyles, microscleres, if present, are sigmas, toxas, raphides or microxeas. Choanosomal skeleton a delicate reticulate choanosomal skeleton of uni-, pausi- or multispicular primary lines, which are regularly connected by unispicular secondary lines. Ectosomal skeleton, if present, a regularly hexagonal, unispicular, tangential reticulation (modified from de Weerdt 2000, 2002).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E174153FF7FF828FF897FE0.taxon	discussion	Remarks. De Weerdt (2000) included a definition of family Haplosclerida which was primarily a description of the choanosomal and ectosomal skeletons, important characters lacking from the 2002 diagnosis (de Weerdt 2002). We have expanded the original diagnosis to include these details.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E164153FF7FFB4CFCA9789F.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Growth form irregularly massive, thickly encrusting, lobate / cushion-shaped, or digitate. Oscula at the end of oscular chimneys or mounds, alongside the branches of digitate forms, flush with the surface of encrusting forms. Consistency varying from soft to moderately firm. Surface even or somewhat irregular, slightly or rather strongly punctate. Colour varying from light to dark brown, black, green to dark red. Ectosomal skeleton a discontinuous tangential, rather open reticulation, due to many rounded meshes framed by spicule lines of 2 – 5 spicules thick. Choanosomal skeleton a subanisotropic reticulation consisting of ill-defined pausispicular primary lines, irregularly connected by pausispicular secondary lines. Spongin always present at the nodes of the spicules but never abundant. Oxeas usually slender. Microscleres, if present, sigmas, toxas or raphides (de Weerdt 2000, 2002).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E164153FF7FFD85FF2D7AAA.taxon	materials_examined	Type species. Spongia oculata Pallas, 1766: 1348 (by original designation).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E164153FF7FFD85FF2D7AAA.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Cushion-shaped, frequently with oscular mounds or chimneys, branching, tube-shaped, repent ramose, rarely thinly entrusting sponges. Colour purple, violet, pink, brown, yellowish, green, blue, black, sometimes white, orange, red. Some species show a two-colour combination of whitish ectosome and darker, purple or brownish choanosome. Consistency varying from soft, fragile, to firm, elastic, brittle or corky. Surface rather smooth and even, slightly to rather strongly punctate, sometimes slightly hispid. Oscula usually circular, flush with the surface or at the top of oscular mounds or chimneys. Ectosomal skeleton, if present, either a regular, tangential, unispicular, isotropic reticulation, with three- to six-sided meshes, or less regular, subisotropic and rather dense or consisting of a discontinuous, rather open reticulation due to many rounded meshes. Choanosomal skeleton a regular, frequently ladder-like reticulation, of uni-, pauci-, or multispicular primary lines, regularly connected by unispicular secondary lines; it may also be rather dense, subisotropic reticulation with many subdermal and choanosomal spaces. Spongin is nearly always present, confined to the nodes of spicules or more abundant, sometimes forming the dominant part of the skeleton. Megascleres, smooth diactins, oxeas or strongyles, length usually between 80 – 250 µm, with a thickness of ca. 5 – 10 µm, rarely larger, up to 370 × 15 µm. Microscleres, if present, sigmas, toxas, raphides or microxeas (de Weerdt 2002).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E16415EFF7FF8A3F8607DDD.taxon	description	(Figs 1 – 4; Table 1, 2)	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E16415EFF7FF8A3F8607DDD.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined. Calypso hydrothermal vent field (Southern vent field, unless noted otherwise), southwest of White Island, Bay of Plenty: Holotype — NIWA 32128, University of Kiel Stn SO 192 - 2 / 2, 37.688 ° S, 177.122 ° E, 189 m, collected by ROV, 24 Apr 2007. Paratypes — NIWA 52850, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 103, 37.695 ° S, 177.101 ° E, 179 – 181 m, collected by rock dredge, 10 Oct 1998; NIWA 52895, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 102, 37.698 ° S, 177.099 ° E, 177 – 185 m, collected by rock dredge, 9 Oct 1998; NIWA 52921, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 110, 37.688 ° S, 177.122 ° E, 189 – 192 m, collected by rock dredge, 11 Oct 1998; NIWA 52872, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 108, 37.687 ° S, 177.121 ° E, 193 m, collected by submersible, 10 Oct 1998. Other material. Calypso hydrothermal vent field (Northern vent field): NIWA 99603, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 117, 37.614 ° S, 177.100 ° E, 162 m, collected by rock dredge, 11 Oct 1998. Type location & distribution. Calypso hydrothermal vent field, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, 162 – 193 m.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E16415EFF7FF8A3F8607DDD.taxon	description	Description. Sponge forms a tangled mass emanating from what appears to be either a single point of attachment to hard substrate, or an encrustation (Figs 2, 3 A; see also Fig. 5 A). Immature sponges form a solitary, short stubby to elongate irregular finger, often branched into two or three fingers, length about 10 – 20 cm long, 4 – 10 mm thick. As the sponge grows, the basal branch splits, branches anastomosing to form a large tangled mass, up to about 40 cm long and 30 cm wide. Oscules, 2 – 5 mm diameter, are raised on low mounds on older, basal branches, rendering the surface knobbed, almost ribbed in appearance (see Fig. 5 A). The surface of younger sections is smooth and oscules are flush with the overall surface, slightly concave in preservative. Texture in life slightly compressible, younger sections more fragile and compressible, older, basal sections firmer slightly elastic and reasonably flexible. Brittle on tearing. Surface texture slightly fuzzy, microscopically hispid. Colour in life light cream; in preservative pale tan. Skeleton. Skeleton of the deep choanosome consists of rare, uni- to multispicular primary lines (Fig. 3 C, red arrows), joined in places by single spicules (Fig. 3 C, white arrows), with evidence of some minor subisodictyal reticulation. The majority of the choanosome has little order, rather, consisting of abundant, scattered spicules, surrounding subdermal spaces of variable size. The ectosome is highly irregular with spicules protruding obliquely or with no obvious orientation, creating the slightly velvety surface texture. Spongin is not visible but most likely limited to the nodes of connection between oxeas. Spicules. Megascleres (Table 1; Fig. 4) thick oxeas, fusiform, slightly curved to abruptly, slightly centrally bent, 203 (159 – 231) × 11 (5 – 15) µm. Substrate, depth range and ecology. Attached to volcaniclastic rock covered in sediment and associated with high densities of an undescribed orange anemone, and other sponges, 177 – 193 m.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E16415EFF7FF8A3F8607DDD.taxon	etymology	Etymology. Named for Professor Christopher N. Battershill, University of Waikato, who first identified this species as Haliclona n. sp. cf. kaikoura Bergquist & Warne, 1980 and who noted the potential significance of the association between the sponges and active hydrothermal venting at the Calypso hydrothermal vent field (Stoffers et al. 1999).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E16415EFF7FF8A3F8607DDD.taxon	discussion	Remarks. In general terms, the skeletal architecture of Haliclona battershilli sp. nov. conforms to something between that of Haliclona (Haliclona) species sensu de Weerdt (2000, 2002), which have a very regular ladder-like reticulation of uni- to pausispicular primary lines connected by unispicular secondary lines, and Haliclona (Soestella) de Weerdt, 2000 species, which have a subanisotropic choanosomal skeleton of ill-defined pausispicular primary lines, irregularly connected by pausispicular secondary lines, with a slight tendency to form rounded meshes (de Weerdt 2000, 2002). The choanosome of Haliclona battershilli sp. nov. has only occasional unispicular primary lines visible, joined occasionally by single spicules (Fig. 3 C) [as in Haliclona (Haliclona)], interspersed with numerous interstitial oxeas strewn around a reasonably cavernous choanosome. The skeleton approaches Haliclona (Soestella) in this way but does not form strictly rounded meshes. In the face of these difficulties, we consider the skeleton architecture to be closer to that of Haliclona (Soestella) than to that of Haliclona (Haliclona) species and have assigned the new species to the subgenus Haliclona (Soestella) accordingly. Stoffers et al. (1999: 66) describe, “ a large very dense anemone assemblage with white finger sponge (Haliclona n. sp.) together with bacterial mats ” as, “ a striking assemblage, ” that was listed as specific to the venting areas (Stoffers et al. 1999: 72; Species / geological associations: 1 – white bacterial mat, brown anemone and white finger sponge / Rock outcrops, bubbles, high temperatures). The ‘ white finger sponge’ is named in Stoffers et al. (1999: Appendix 6 - 3) as Haliclona n. sp. cf. kaikoura Bergquist & Warne, 1980, which forms branches that arise from a flattened base, but this species has a conspicuous punctate, reticulate surface and much smaller oxeas [H. kaikoura: 130 (124 – 149 µm); H. (S.) battershilli: 203 (159 – 231 µm)]. Haliclona kaikoura has only been recorded from the east coast of the South Island. …… continued on the next page …… continued on the next page In terms of spicule dimensions, most New Zealand Haliclona species have oxeas that range in length from about 100 – 150 µm (Table 2); H. sabulosa Bergquist & Warne, 1980, has the smallest oxeas, at 81 (68 – 95) × 5 µm and H. maxima Bergquist & Warne, 1980 has the largest, at 293 (274 – 317) µm long. With oxeas that range in length from 159 – 231 µm, H. (S.) battershilli sp. nov. has the second largest spicules recorded for a species of Haliclona in New Zealand. The three species most closely comparable to H. (S.) battershilli sp. nov., in terms of oxea dimensions, are H. fragilis (Bergquist & Warne, 1980), H. ‘ laxa’ (Lundbeck, 1902) sensu Brøndsted (1924) [H. laxa (Lundbeck, 1902) is now accepted as Haliclona (Rhizoniera) rosea (Bowerbank, 1866) in the World Porifera Database (van Soest et al. 2018 d)], and H. (S.) implexa (Schmidt, 1868) sensu Brøndsted (1924: 122) and Bergquist & Warne (1980: 17). Haliclona fragilis has oxeas 175 (131 – 197) µm long, and has a loose, unispicular reticulation with visible spongin, and has only been recorded from the lower intertidal (Auckland west coast) and shallow subtidal (South Island east coast). Haliclona (R.) rosea from Colville Channel in the Hauraki Gulf, is probably the closest species to H. (S.) battershilli sp. nov., with oxeas 190 – 200 µm long, and recorded from 64 m depth. However, H. (R.) rosea was described as tubular, about 14 cm long, with a wall about 8 mm thick. The skeleton is also similar, described as very dense with numerous interstitial spicules and composed primarily of primary fibres, 2 – 6 spicules wide. The primary fibres in H. (S.) battershilli sp. nov. are rare and unispicular. Haliclona (S.) implexa was recorded from shallow waters in the Subantarctic region of New Zealand, but Brøndsted’s description does not conform to that of Soestella sensu stricto (Table 2), and the species is now reserved for Northern Atlantic and Mediterranean sponges; the New Zealand distribution is considered to be inaccurate (Van Soest 2017 f). Despite the general difficulty of differentiating the many species of Haliclona in New Zealand waters, we regard H. (S.) battershilli sp. nov. as unique, due to: 1) the restricted distribution to the Calypso hydrothermal vent fields; 2) the depth of this habitat (180 – 190 m), the deepest record for any species of Haliclona in New Zealand waters thus far; 3) the considerable size of the oxeas (159 – 231 µm) compared to most other species; and 4) the branching, ramose, attenuated habit, not found in any other New Zealand species.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E1B415EFF7FFBE1FE06786E.taxon	materials_examined	Type species. Halichoclona gellindra de Laubenfels, 1932 (by monotypy).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E1B415EFF7FFBE1FE06786E.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Massive, tubiform, cushion-shaped or encrusting sponges, with a strong tendency in several species to form fistular outgrowths. Oscules usually large, not numerous. Colour orange, pink, purplish or white; in some species, there is a two-colour combination of a whitish transparent ectosome and a darker, coloured, purple or orange choanosome. Consistency relatively crisp and brittle, only slightly compressible. Spongin absent or scarce, at the nodes of the spicules. Ectosomal skeleton of the same structure as the choanosome, usually very loosely overlaying the choanosome, from which it may be separated by extensive subectosomal spaces. Choanosomal skeleton a subisotropic, somewhat confused reticulation, commonly intercepted by many choanosomal spaces. Megascleres usually acerate or hastate oxeas, reaching substantial sizes in some species. Microscleres, if present, microxeas or sigmas (de Weerdt 2002).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E1B4141FF7FF910FE3D7EC8.taxon	description	(Figs 1, 2, 5, 6; Table 2, 4)	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E1B4141FF7FF910FE3D7EC8.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined. Calypso hydrothermal vent field (Southern vent field), southwest of White Island, Bay of Plenty: Holotype — NIWA 52859, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 103, 37.695 ° S, 177.101 ° E, 179 – 181 m, collected by rock dredge, 10 Oct 1998. Paratype — NIWA 52897, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 108, 37.687 ° S, 177.121 ° E, 193 m, collected by submersible, 10 Oct 1998. Type location & distribution. Calypso hydrothermal vent field, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, 179 – 193 m.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E1B4141FF7FF910FE3D7EC8.taxon	description	Description. S pherical to hemispherical, cushion-shaped sponge (Fig. 2, 5 A, B), about 30 mm high and wide, with an irregular, lumpy surface from which may emerge short, fine, hollow fistular outgrowths. Surface faintly hispid, top 2 – 3 mm easily detached from the underlying skeleton in flakes (Fig. 5 B); sponge is highly cavernous; the subsurface appears hollow out of water, reflecting the overlying tangential ectosome, from under which the preserving fluid drains from the substantial subectosomal spaces. Oscules uncommon, flush with the surface, about 2 mm diameter. Texture in life extremely fragile, crisp, brittle, delicate. Colour in life and preservative, pale cream with a translucent surface, reflecting the subdermal spaces beneath. Skeleton. Choanosomal skeleton consists of a subisotropic to confused reticulation of oxeas, surrounding large spaces, rendering the interior highly cavernous (Fig. 5 C, D). There is some organisation into rough uni- to multispicular tracts emerging towards the surface in the upper choanosome (Fig. 5 D), criss-crossed roughly by multiple spicules, about 150 – 400 µm apart. The ectosomal skeleton is the same as the choanosome, the apical spicules of the primary lines project from the surface (Fig. 5 C) and the whole is overlaid and interspersed with an irregular layer of oxeas in a more-or-less paratangential isodictyal reticulation that can be quite thick in places (Fig. 5 C), giving the impression of a thick tangential skeleton that comes off in flakes, with subectosome attached. Choanosome is separated from the ectosome by quite large subdermal spaces (Fig. 5 C). Nodal or fibre spongin not visible. Interstitial oxeas are abundant throughout. Spicules. Megascleres (Table 3; Fig. 6), oxeas with fine, fusiform tips, slightly curved, 158 (135 – 183) × 8 (5 – 11) µm. Substrate, depth range and ecology. Attached to volcaniclastic rock covered in sediment and associated with high densities of other sponges and an undescribed orange anemone, 177 – 193 m.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E1B4141FF7FF910FE3D7EC8.taxon	etymology	Etymology. Named for the R. V. Sonne, the German research vessel from which most of the Calypso hydrothermal vent collections were made in 1998. The ship is named after the original German meaning for sun (sonne).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E1B4141FF7FF910FE3D7EC8.taxon	discussion	Remarks. Haliclona (Halichoclona) sonnae sp. nov. has a highly characteristic, distinguishing feature: an ectosome that is detachable in thick flakes. On preliminary examination, the holotype and paratype were assigned to the genus Adocia [now a synonym of Haliclona (Haliclona)] because there appeared to be a distinct surface skeleton, easily separable from the underlying choanosome. However, on closer examination, histological sections revealed that the ectosome did not have the highly organised, tangential surface isodictyal reticulation of formerly Adocia species, which can be sliced cleanly from the crisp underlying choanosome with a scalpel blade. Rather, the skeletal arrangement is a thick ectosomal ‘ subisodictyal crust, ’ separated by abundant subdermal spaces, from a denser subisodictyal reticulation that shows some rough tract development. Combined with the cushion-shaped morphology, the presence of rare but relatively large oscules, the crisp, fragile consistency, the apparent absence of spongin, and the detachable flaky ectosome (de Weerdt 2002), the morphology and skeleton architecture of the new species is highly reminiscent of species in the Haliclona subgenus Halichoclona. There is only one species of this subgenus recognised from New Zealand waters: Haliclona (Halichoclona) caminata (Bergquist & Warne, 1980) (Table 2), a massive, crisp, fragile sponge with a basal mat from which arises long, hollow, oscular fistules, a subectosomal region with primary tracts separated from a more confused choanosome by subdermal spaces, and oxeas around 130 (100 – 180) µm long. Although H. (Halichoclona) caminata is one of the deepest recorded species at 75 m (Mernoo Bank, South Island east coast), and is thus far restricted to the east coast of New Zealand, it has not been recorded to date as far north as the Bay of Plenty and not at the depth recorded for H. sonnae sp. nov. (177 – 193 m). Haliclona (Halichoclona) sonnae sp. nov. differs physically from H. (Halichoclona) caminata in the lack of abundant oscular tubes (although it may put up hollow, irregular tendrils) and the oxeas are larger on average [158 (135 – 183) µm long. While the subectosomal skeleton of H. (Halichoclona) sonnae sp. nov. is like that of H. (Halichoclona) caminata in that it has relatively dense primary tracts, those of H. (Halichoclona) caminata are much thicker (10 – 20 spicules wide) than in H. (Halichoclona) sonnae sp. nov. (1 – 2 spicules wide) and only extend to a depth of about 1200 µm as opposed to 2000 – 3000 µm deep in H. (Halichoclona) sonnae sp. nov.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E044141FF7FFCE1FEEF7BDE.taxon	materials_examined	Type species. Protosuberites prototipus Swartschewsky, 1905: 36, pl. VI fig. 5.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E044141FF7FFCE1FEEF7BDE.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Thinly to more massively encrusting sponges with a velvety or microhispid surface. Oscular veins often prominently visible. The surface skeleton consists of brushes of tylostyles, which are often somewhat smaller than those of the choanosome. Choanosomal skeleton consists variably of single spicules erect on the substrate, or bundles running from the substrate to the surface, usually parallel to each other without any form of anastomosing (Van Soest 2002).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E044141FF7FFCE1FEEF7BDE.taxon	discussion	Remarks. Protosuberites was revived by Van Soest (2002) to take the place of Laxosuberites sensu Topsent (1938) which was extended to include thinly encrusting sponges with bundles of spicules in the choanosome and ectosomal brushes (see Van Soest [2002: 235] for an in-depth discussion). In thickly encrusting sponges with digitate processes, the choanosomal tracts are often orientated along the axis of the process, giving the impression of compression of the axis, and the divergence and termination of these tracts under the ectosome often give the impression of an ‘ extra-axial’ system, as in Plicatellopsis Burton, 1932. However, the skeleton is not the same as in species of Plicatellopsis which have strictly compressed axes of anastomosing tracts in a stalk, from which extends a clear extra-axial skeleton in branches or fans.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E044141FF7FFE30FEBF7CDC.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Globular, ramose, stipitate, massive or encrusting habit. Megascleres usually tylostyles, occasionally styles, strongyloxeas or centrotylote oxeas; microscleres usually absent, when present, confined to microrhabds and trichodragmas. In cross section, megascleres are usually arranged in bouquets at the surface, in more massive species becoming progressively confusedly arranged towards the interior, but overall structure may also be strictly radial or show a strong axial orientation. In one genus, the spicules at the surface are arranged tangentially. There is no recognizable cortex. In thinly encrusting species, spicule orientation is either parallel or perpendicular to the substratum. Modifications of shape and position of the tylostyles heads are common; they can be lobate, pearshaped, drop-shaped or subterminal (Van Soest 2002).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E044147FF7FF9E0FF6F7C98.taxon	description	(Figs 1, 2, 7, 8; Table 4)	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E044147FF7FF9E0FF6F7C98.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined. Calypso hydrothermal vent field (Southern vent field), southwest of White Island, Bay of Plenty: Holotype — NIWA 32136, University of Kiel Stn SO 192 - 2 / 3, 37.688 ° S, 177.123 ° W, 192 m, collected by TV Grab, 27 April 2007. Paratypes — NIWA 32135, 32140, University of Kiel Stn SO 192 - 2 / 7, 37.688 ° S, 177.123 ° W, 191 m, collected by ROV, 28 April 2007; NIWA 52839, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 110, 37.688 ° S, 177.122 ° E, 189 – 192 m, collected by rock dredge, 11 Oct 1998. Other material. NIWA 52838, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 103, 37.695 ° S, 177.101 ° E, 179 – 181 m, collected by rock dredge, 10 Oct 1998; NIWA 52851, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 135 / 110, 37.688 ° S, 177.122 ° E, 189 – 192 m, collected by rock dredge, 11 Oct 1998. Type location & distribution. Calypso hydrothermal vent field, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, 179 – 192 m.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E044147FF7FF9E0FF6F7C98.taxon	description	Description. Thickly encrusting on hard rocky substrate, appearing ‘ stretched’ in places, about 5 – 10 mm thick, growing in patches of about 50 – 100 mm wide. Encrustations may give rise to low mounds, lobes, flabby expanses and finger-shaped projection, 5 – 10 mm diameter (Fig. 7 A, B). Oscules are not obvious in life but appear to be at the ends of some fingers in in situ images. The surface is macroscopically smooth to undulating in life, with a stretched, slightly micro-knobbed appearance when out of water (Fig. 7 C). Sediment catches in places where ectosomal spicules protrude beyond the surface rendering the texture slightly fuzzy (Fig. 7 D). Texture in life slightly compressible, rubbery, corky, flexible. Colour in preservative ranges from light to dark cream yellow, to peach-coloured, to deep dull pink (NIWA 52838). Skeleton. Choanosome composed of wavy tracts of large tylostyles aligned longitudinally through the axes of flabellate and finger-like portions of specimens (Fig. 7 E), diverging towards the surface in encrusting portions (Fig. 7 F, G). Tracts range from about 100 – 1100 µm wide and are interspersed with numerous free tylostyles. About 1000 to 1500 µm below the surface, tracts branch and diverge towards the surface, terminating below well separated surface bouquets of smaller tylostyles, the sharp tips of which project cleanly from the surface by about 60 – 150 µm. Spicules. Megascleres (Table 4; Fig. 8) are tylostyles with well-developed, spherical heads with a slight protrusion at the tip, ranging in length from about 150 – 920 µm long and 7 – 25 µm thick, slightly sinuous and unevenly thickened along the straight shaft, thicker in the upper half. Examination of histological sections of the ectosome and choanosome reveal at least two clear size categories of tylostyles, the smaller in the ectosomal brushes (170 – 350 µm long), the largest in the deep choanosomal tracts (500 – 920 µm long). Substrate, depth range and ecology. Attached to volcaniclastic rock covered in sediment and associated with high densities of other sponges and an undescribed orange anemone, 179 – 192 m.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E044147FF7FF9E0FF6F7C98.taxon	etymology	Etymology. Named for the first record of the genus in the New Zealand region.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E044147FF7FF9E0FF6F7C98.taxon	discussion	Remarks. In the Pacific Ocean region, two species were described from the Southern California Bight [P. mexicensis (de Laubenfels, 1935), P. sisyrnus (de Laubenfels, 1930)], Australia [P. epiphytum (Lamarck, 1815); P. proteus (Hentschel, 1909), and Chile [P. epiphytoides (Thiele, 1905)]. The most common species in this region, stretching from the Indian Ocean to Palau in the Central Pacific, is P. diversicolor Becking & Lim (as Suberites), often found in land-locked marine lakes (Kelly & Bell 2015). In terms of spicule dimensions, the closest species to P. novaezelandiae sp. nov. are P. mexicensis from the South Californian Bight, with tylostyles up to 1000 µm long (Table 5), and P. proteus from Shark Bay, southwestern Australia, with tylostyles ranging from 15 8 – 808 µm long (Table 5). The Californian species has much larger megascleres than P. novaezelandiae sp. nov., and according to de Laubenfels (1935), the sponge is a thin encrustation on a large spicule of hexactinellid origin. The choanosome has a confused arrangement with bouquets at the surface, but there is no appreciable difference between the lengths of the tylostyles in the ectosome and choanosome. Protosuberites proteus from tropical Shark Bay in Western Australia, has very similar spiculation to P. novaezelandiae sp. nov., but is a shallow water sponge collected from estuaries and rocky reefs between 3 and 12 m deep. The sponge is much thicker (up to 6 cm thick) than the New Zealand species (5 – 10 mm thick) which is found in much deep waters (179 – 192 m). The two species are separated primarily on their disjunct geographic distributions (shallow tropical estuarine Western Australia vs deep-water hydrothermal vent field in temperate eastern New Zealand). Most authors do not differentiate ectosomal and choanosomal categories of megascleres in species of Protosuberites from the South Pacific and Southern Ocean region (Table 5). However, in those species with …… continued on the next page choanosomal tracts that diverge below the ectosome, such as in P. hendricksi (Table 5) and in P. novaezelandiae sp. nov., there is a striking difference in the lengths of spicules in these species (e. g. Fig. 5 F; Table 4), and some evidence that, as in many Suberitidae genera, a subectosomal category may also be discernible, but difficult to measure (see Samaai & Gibbons 2005). Protosuberites is well represented in the Atlantic Ocean and further north (13 species): North and Celtic Seas [P. incrustans (Hansen) and sensu (Stephens); P. denhartogi Van Soest & de Kluijver; P. durus (Stephens)]; Western Mediterranean and Black Seas [P. brevispinus (de Laubenfels); P. ectyoninus (Topsent); P. mereui Manconi; P. modestus (Pulitzer-Finali); P. prototipus; P. rugosus (Topsent)]; North Atlantic [P. capillitium (Topsent); P. ferrerhernandezi (Boury-Enault & Lopes)]; Western Tropical Atlantic [P. geracei (Van Soest & Sass)], and across the Western Indian Ocean [P. reptans (Kirkpatrick) and P. hendricksi Samaai & Gibbons from South Africa; P. longispiculus (Burton) from the Maldives] and Southeast Asia, where the earliest species were described from the brackish, land-locked Chilka Lake of eastern India [P. aquaedulcioris (Annandale); P. lacustris (Annandale)] and P. collaris Annandale from Krakatau, Indonesia. A sixth species has been described from Cheju Island, Korea, P. nestus (Sim & Kim). A review of all species and their skeletal architecture and spicule dimensions would be very useful but is beyond the scope of this work.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E024147FF7FFD5DFF4578FF.taxon	materials_examined	Type species. Pseudosuberites hyalinus (Ridley & Dendy, 1887) (by subsequent designation).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E024147FF7FFD5DFF4578FF.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. Massive, globular, thinly to thickly encrusting, lobular, digitate sponges, with a smooth surface, due to the presence of a tangential ectosomal skeleton of tylostyles. Choanosomal skeleton ranges from a confused arrangement, to loose tracts of megascleres that diverge from the base of encrusting sponges, or has some degree of axial compression in lobular or digitate sponges, where discrete tracts diverge towards the surface where they form thick bouquets. Ectosomal skeleton is a thin or thick, detachable, flaky, tangential layer of tylostyles. Spicules are tylostyles that occur in a variety of sizes, without clearly distinct or localised size categories (modified from Van Soest 2002).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E024147FF7FFD5DFF4578FF.taxon	discussion	Remarks. Van Soest (2002) noted that in Topsent’s treatment of Pseudosuberites (Topsent 1896, 1900), he (Topsent) intended the well-established, thinly encrusting European species, P. sulphureus (Bowerbank, 1866: 208, as Hymeniacidon), as type of the genus, although he omitted to clearly state this. A second, thickly encrusting to digitate species, Hymeniacidon? hyalinus Ridley & Dendy, 1887, from the channels and fjords of Southern Chile, was mentioned by Topsent, and subsequently named the ‘ genotype’ of Pseudosuberites by Burton (1930), rendering the status of Pseudosuberites unclear. The general form of the type species, P. hyalinus, is massive amorphous to digitate, with a skeleton of loose tracts of relatively large megascleres (tylostyles about 1200 µm long), that diverge towards the surface forming subectosomal brushes, the spicules of which are disposed obliquely and then tangentially at the surface (tylostyles about 200 µm long). In general terms, the architecture of the type species and the size of the megascleres, is similar to that of species of the Southern Ocean genus Plicatellopsis, with the axial compression, extra-axial skeleton emerging as subectosomal bouquets, between which are large subdermal spaces. The primary difference between the two genera is the presence of a compact (detachable) crust of oblique to tangentially disposed megascleres, carried by surface brushes, in Southern Ocean Pseudosuberites species, absent in all Plicatellopsis species except P. antarctica (Carter), albeit rudimentary in this species.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E02414FFF7FF883F8B37935.taxon	description	(Figs 1, 9 – 12; Table 6) Pseudosuberites sp., Baco et al., 2010: 255, 256, fig 2 b. Pseudosuberites sp., Thurber et al., 2010: 260, 265 – 268, fig. 3, table 3. Pseudosuberites sp., Bowden et al., 2013: 5 – 11.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E02414FFF7FF883F8B37935.taxon	materials_examined	Material examined. South and North Tower Seeps, Opouawe Bank, Hikurangi Margin: Holotype — NIWA 27044, NIWA Stn TAN 0616 / 79, North Tower, 41.783 ° S, 177.399 ° E, 1040 – 1053 m, collected by epibenthic sled, 13 Nov 2006. Paratypes — NIWA 27043, 27045, 27047, 27060, NIWA Stn TAN 0616 / 79, North Tower, 41.783 ° S, 177.399 ° E, 1040 – 1053 m, collected by epibenthic sled, 13 Nov 2006; NIWA 27055, NIWA Stn TAN 0616 / 83, South Tower, 41.783 ° S, 175.399 ° E, 1050 – 1053 m, collected by epibenthic sled, 13 Nov 2006. LM- 3 Seep, Rock Garden, Hikurangi Margin: NIWA 32043, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 191 - 3 / 238, 39.977 ° S, 178.236 ° E, 907 – 908 m, collected by TV grab, 6 Mar 2007.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E02414FFF7FF883F8B37935.taxon	description	LM- 9 Seep, Omakere Ridge, Hikurangi Margin: NIWA 32063, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 191 - 2 / 164, 40.054 ° S, 177.822 ° E, 1097 – 1110 m, collected by TV grab, 22 Feb 2007.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E02414FFF7FF883F8B37935.taxon	materials_examined	Other material. South and North Tower Seeps, Opouawe Bank, Hikurangi Margin: NIWA 27046, 27048, NIWA Stn TAN 0616 / 79, North Tower, 41.783 ° S, 177.399 ° E, 1040 – 1053 m, collected by epibenthic sled, 13 Nov 2006; NIWA 27051, NIWA Stn TAN 0616 / 80, South Tower, 41.790 ° S, 175.405 ° E, 1055 – 1050 m, collected by epibenthic sled, 13 Nov 2006; NIWA 27052, 27054, NIWA Stn TAN 0616 / 83, South Tower, 41.783 ° S, 175.399 ° E, 1053 – 1050 m, collected by epibenthic sled, 13 Nov 2006; NIWA 35004, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 191 - 2 / 149, South Tower, 41.789 ° S, 175.407 ° E, 1055 m, collected by TV grab, 19 Feb 2007. LM- 9 Seep, Omakere Ridge, Hikurangi Margin: NIWA 27034, NIWA Stn TAN 0616 / 45, 40.013 ° S, 177.860 ° E, 1127 – 1160 m, collected by epibenthic sled, 7 Nov 2006; NIWA 32040, 32061, 35008, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 191 - 2 / 87, 40.053 ° S, 177.735 ° E, 1106 – 1098 m, collected by TV grab, 12 Feb 2007; NIWA 32062, IFM GEOMAR Stn SO 191 - 2 / 164, 40.054 ° S, 177.822 ° E, 1097 – 1110 m, collected by TV grab, 22 Feb 2007. Type location. South and North Tower Seeps, Opouawe Bank, Hikurangi Margin.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E02414FFF7FF883F8B37935.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Opouawe Bank at southern entrance to Cook Strait, south of Wairarapa coast, North Island, 907 – 1160 m, north to Omakere and Ritchie’s Ridge on the Hikurangi Margin.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E02414FFF7FF883F8B37935.taxon	description	Description. Thickly encrusting, widely spreading, mounded sponge, giving rise to multiple, finely divided branches, that form a highly fragmented mass (Figs 9, 10) about 4 – 5 cm high and wide. Sponges on hard substrate tend to form encrusting mounds, while those partially buried in sediment produce fine tendrils (Figs. 9, 10 B). Branches may be relatively thick with incipient branching, up to 1 cm diameter (e. g. Figs 10 A, C), to finely divided tendrils 2 – 3 mm diameter (e. g. Fig. 10 B). Oscules are not visible in life or in the preserved state. Texture is corky, slightly granular to the touch, overall firm, compressible, and flexible. Colour in life, dull greyish white; in preservative, dull tan to light orange brown. Skeleton. Choanosome composed of loose, divaricating bundles of tylostyles, aligned longitudinally in surface projections, running parallel with the base of the sponge in encrustations (Fig. 11 A), ranging from about 100 – 150 µm wide. Free spicules are interspersed between tracts, criss-crossing the primary tracts as single spicules or forming deep, diverging, subectosomal brushes (Figs 11 B, C). Tracts or subectosomal brushes emerge at the surface as a dense palisade of bouquets of tylostyles, through which lies a relatively thin layer of predominantly, tangentially disposed tylostyles. The whole forms a dense, thick, continuous palisade. Spicules. Megascleres (Table 6; Fig. 12), tylostyles with well-developed, spherical heads, 291 (134 – 530) µm long × 8 (7 – 15) µm thick, with slight protrusion of the apex, shaft uniform along the length and slightly bent off centre in the upper third. No obvious difference in the lengths of the tylostyles between the ectosome and choanosome. Substrate, depth range and ecology. Attached to authigenic carbonate rock, 907 – 1160 m. Thurber et al. (2010) hypothesise that this species may be chemoautotrophic and play a significant role in facilitating the transfer of methane into the metazoan food web in hard substrata habitats at the seep sites.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E02414FFF7FF883F8B37935.taxon	etymology	Etymology. The species is named in honour of Dr Andrew Thurber, Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University, U. S. A, for his leadership in the discovery and first description of a unique sponge-dominated community that is largely fuelled by methane from the seeps (Thurber et al. 2010).	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E02414FFF7FF883F8B37935.taxon	discussion	Remarks. A general survey of presently accepted species in Pseudosuberites (Van Soest et al. 2018 b) reveals a range of choanosomal architectures, seemingly dependent upon whether the species is encrusting (confused skeleton with loose tracts) or lobate / digitate (some axial compression of tracts with subectosomal divergence towards ectosomal bouquets), indicating a progression in tract and axial compression in the skeleton as the sponge thickens and attains height. Megascleres in the choanosomal skeleton also vary considerably in their overall length, ranging from about 350 µm in P. andrewsi Kirkpatrick and P. exalbicans Topsent, to 1200 µm in P. hyalinus and 2000 µm in P. nudus Koltun. Four species are known from the northern hemisphere: P. montiniger (Carter) from the North and East Barents Sea; P. sadko Koltun from the Russian Arctic Ocean; P. mollis Topsent from the Western Mediterranean; P. sulphureus, a thin encrusting sponge from the North Sea. Eight species are known from the Indo-Pacific: three from Japan [(P. incrustans (Thiele), P. kunisakiensis Hoshino, and P. perforates (Thiele)], one from Easter Island (P. vakai Desqueyroux-Faundez) and one from the Marshall Islands [(P. purpureus (de Laubenfels)]. Pseudosuberites andrewsi Kirkpatrick, is perhaps the best known tropical species, from Christmas Island in the Western Indian Ocean; P. cava Sollas was recorded from the Malay Peninsula, and P. lobulatus (Lévi) from Vietnam. However, most species have been recorded from Antarctica and the southern-most reaches of the South Pacific Ocean (Chile and the Patagonian Shelf), and the South Atlantic Ocean (Tristan Gough) (Table 7). Bergquist (1968: 24 – 26) ascribed several sponges from Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour, and the Hauraki Gulf’s North Channel, to Pseudosuberites sulcatus (Thiele, 1905) which was first described from waters off Cabo de Espiritu Santo (53.783 ° S, 67.500 ° W) on the Patagonian Shelf in the South Atlantic Ocean (Table 7). Bergquist’s specimens are similar to P. sulcatus, as originally described by Thiele (1905) and Bergquist (1968), including the spicule dimensions [Cabo de Espiritu Santo: choanosomal tylostyles 370 µm long, 12 µm thick, ectosomal tylostyles 175 µm long, 5 µm thick; Narrow Neck: tylostyles 284 (170 – 386) µm long, 9.6 (6.0 – 12.7) µm thick; North Channel tylostyles 272 (140 – 387) µm long and 7.3 (4.6 – 8.4) µm thick]. The sponges are small and thinly encrusting [Cabo de Espiritu Santo: about 15 mm high with surface processes; New Zealand: 0.8 – 1.4 mm thick with irregular surface processes (2.8 – 4.0 mm high, 1.2 – 1.6 mm wide)], both with a ‘ choanosome composed of a confused mat of large tylostyles with a tendency towards vertical disposition, and the ectosome was composed of vertically arranged tylostyles of large and small size, with a tendency for small spicules to predominate in the dermal region (Bergquist 1968). Thiele (1905) described some ‘ bundle’ formation in the choanosome, tylostyles being bound by spongin, and the same ‘ radial’ arrangement of spicules in the ectosome. What is quite clear from these descriptions and recent descriptions of P. sulcatus from Easter Island (Desqueyroux-Faúndez, 1990), is that P. sulcatus (and the New Zealand specimens assigned to this species) does not conform to our current understanding of the genus Pseudosuberites, i. e. being the only suberitid genus with an ectosome of tangentially orientated megascleres of a comparable size to those in the choanosome. Rather, P. sulcatus (and the New Zealand specimens) conform more closely to the genus Protosuberites, as diagnosed by Van Soest (2002) and recently revisited in Van Soest & Kluijver (2003) and Samaai & Gibbons (2005), as possessing a ‘ surface skeleton of brushes of tylostyles, which are often somewhat smaller than those of the choanosome. Choanosomal skeleton consists variably of single spicules erect on the substrate or bundles running from the substrate to the surface, usually parallel to each other, without any form of anastomosing’ (Van Soest 2002: 235). Bergquist (1968) followed Burton (1930) in also relegating the New Zealand species Suberites ramosus, S. anastomosus and S. incrustans, in synonymy with P. sulcatus. These three species were first described by Brøndsted (1924) from the shallow subtidal in Perseverance Harbour on Campbell Island, Subantarctic Island region of New Zealand. Burton’s 1930 concept of Pseudosuberites was that the ectosomal skeleton could vary from tangential to oblique to a palisade, all three dispositions being visible in a single specimen of what he called P. sulcatus from Campbell Island and South Georgia (Burton 1930). However, Suberites ramosus and S. anastomosus strongly confirm to the genus Protosuberites as described above and should be transferred there: The surface of both species is described by Brøndsted (1924) as having ‘ a dermal membrane (that) seems to be sustained by a layer of smaller spicules at an oblique angle, lying with the apices outwards directed, often appearing as tufts, continuing the spicule fibres’ (S. ramosus), and ‘ a dermal membrane sustained by rather compact and closely placed spicule tufts, directed more or less perpendicular to the surface; the small tylostyles compose mainly the tufts, the bigger one mainly the fibres’ (S. anastomosus). Suberites incrustans, currently accepted as a synonym of P. sulcatus (Van Soest et al. 2018 a), is quite different from the other two species, and P. sulcatus, as it lacks a discernible ectosomal skeleton. Without direct examination of the specimen, this species is unrecognisable within Suberitidae, except for possible affinity with Prosuberites Topsent, 1893 whose species are very thinly encrusting with no ectosomal specialisation.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
BA0487F87E02414FFF7FF883F8B37935.taxon	description	Pseudosuberites species are thinly to thickly encrusting with lobes and digits. The skeletons of encrusting species are usually confused, or with loosely constructed tracts of megascleres diverging from the base, spreading at the surface and extending just beyond the dermal membrane, which consists of a layer of tangentially disposed spicules. The development of lobes is usually accompanied by some degree of axial compression in the lobe. The thinner the specimen, the simpler the skeleton. Megascleres are always subtylostyles to tylostyles in two loosely differentiated categories, the larger forming the choanosomal tracts and the smaller forming the tangential ectosome. It will be important in the future to conduct a careful study of the species in this broadly defined genus, in which subgroups are currently not clear, but such a study is beyond the scope of this contribution.	en	Kelly, Michelle, Rowden, Ashley A. (2019): New sponge species from hydrothermal vent and cold seep sites off New Zealand. Zootaxa 4576 (3): 401-438, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4576.3.1
