Aphroceras caespitosa ( Haeckel, 1872 )

Van Soest, Rob W. M. & De Voogd, Nicole J., 2015, Calcareous sponges of Indonesia, Zootaxa 3951 (1), pp. 1-105 : 99

Aphroceras caespitosa ( Haeckel, 1872)

Leucandra alcicornis var. caespitosa Haeckel, 1872: 185 .

Comment: Haeckel (1872: 185 and 186) described this species as a variety of Gray’s (1858) Aphroceras alcicornis . Haeckel’s Indonesian material from Java was collected by Mulder. It is not certain that the present variety was described from Indonesia as Haeckel did not clearly distinguish this variety from Leucandra alcicornis var. cladocora , mentioned on the same page, and later considered as the typical variety of A. alcicornis from Hong Kong by Burton (1963: 491). The descriptions of both varieties are insufficiently detailed to recognize A.caespitosa as a distinct species. No material resembling A. alcicornis was found among our specimens. The identity of this species is unclear. Ferrer Hernandez (1912) reported a sponge under the name Leucandra caespitosa from the Mediterranean, but Haeckel’s specimens were all from the Indo-Pacific. According to Burton (1963: 573) this is a species inquirenda.