Clathria ( Thalysias ) virgultosa (Esper, 1806)

Ugalde, Diana, Fernandez, Julio C. C., Gómez, Patricia, Lôbo-Hajdu, Gisele & Simões, Nuno, 2021, An update on the diversity of marine sponges in the southern Gulf of Mexico coral reefs, Zootaxa 5031 (1), pp. 1-112 : 50

Clathria ( Thalysias) virgultosa (Esper, 1806)

Tables 6, 7; Figs. 44A–H , 45K

Synonymy and references: Spongia virgultosa Esper, 1806 ; Lamarck (1814); Clathria copiosa , Clathria jugosa , Rhaphidophlus juniperinus , Spongia virgultosa , Tenacia clathrata , Thalysias juniperina , Thalysias juniperina , see references compiled in Hooper (1996: 411), and Gómez (2014: 74); Clathria ( Thalysias) virgultosa: Hooper (1996: 411) , Gómez (2014: 74), and Rützler et al. (2014: 62).

Type locality. Greater Antilles.

Material examined. CNPGG-2357, Banco Obispo Sur reef ( 20.42345°N, 92.22743°W), 9 m depth, coll. Oscar Bocardo, 14 September 2017.

Distribution. Mexico ( Topsent 1889 as Clathria copiosa ; Hartman 1955 as Microciona juniperina ; Gómez 2014; current records), Bahamas, US ( Florida), other countries in the Caribbean Sea (Zea et al. 2014).

Remarks. Clathria ( T.) virgultosa has been reported for the southern ( Gómez 2014) and northern GoM ( Rützler et al. 2009). This species has different morphotypes from bush shaped to encrusting, always rugose surface and reddish color. It is also distinguished by unusual acanthostyles with a smooth shaft at the mid-region and spined on both endings ( Gómez 2014). Our material has an encrusting habit, rugose surface, and reddish color. We observe neither microtoxa, nor oxhorn toxa, nor a larger category of palmate isochelae, but we observe the unusual acanthostyles with a smooth shaft at the mid-region, and spined on both endings; see spiculation of C. ( T.) virgultosa described by Gómez (2014) and Zea et al. 2014.

Figures

FIGURE 44. Clathria (Thalysias) virgultosa (Esper, 1806) (CNPGG-2357), skeleton and spicules: A. transversal section of skeleton; B. detail of the ectosomal region; C. detail of the choanosomal region; D. choanosomal principal style (larger form) and choanosomal auxiliary style (smaller form); E. ectosomal auxiliary subtylostyles, the arrow pointing to acanthostyles; F. acanthostyles; G. rhaphidiform toxas; H. palmate isochelae. Scale bars. A = 500 µm; B = 200 µm; C = 250 µm; D = 100 µm; E = 50 µm; F–G = 25 µm; H = 5 µm.

FIGURE 45. In situ photographs of species analyzed in the present study: A. Neopetrosia proxima Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 (CNPGG-2264); B. Neopetrosia proxima Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 (CNPGG-2376); C. Neopetrosia subtriangularis (Duchassaing, 1850) (CNPGG-2435); D. Petrosia (Petrosia) weinbergi van Soest, 1980 (CNPGG-2434). E. Xestospongia muta (Schmidt, 1870) (CNPGG-2230); F. Siphonodictyon xamaycaense Pulitzer-Finali, 1986 (CNPGG-2441), arrows pointing to fistules; G. Siphonodictyon xamaycaense Pulitzer-Finali, 1986 (CNPGG-2432); H. Clathria (Clathria) foliacea Topsent, 1889 (CNPGG-2172), its stem is covered by algae; I. Clathria (Clathria) gomezae van Soest, 2017 (CNPGG-2231); J. Clathria (Thalysias) venosa (Alcolado, 1984) (CNPGG-2410); K. Clathria (Thalysias) virgultosa (Esper, 1806) (CNPGG-2357). Scale bars, A–K = 1 cm.