Mycale (Carmia) cecilia de Laubenfels, 1936

Trejo, Alejandra, Carballo, José Luis & Segovia, Johanna, 2025, New records and checklist of sponges from El Salvador (Eastern Tropical Pacific), Zootaxa 5613 (1), pp. 99-125 : 108-109

Mycale (Carmia) cecilia de Laubenfels, 1936

Figure 6 , Table 6

Examined material. MUHNES-91-2— Salinitas (13°31’44.65”N, 89°48’51.05”W), depth 1 m, A. Trejo (19. VI.2018) ; MUHNES-91-7— El Bajón de Zúniga II (13°30’2.9” N, 89°47’15.5”W), depth 12 m, A. Trejo (18. VII.2018) ; MUHNES-91-27— El Arco (13°30’50.9”N, 89°47’33.1”W), depth 4 m, A. Trejo (20. VII.2018) ; MUHNES-91-33— La Peñona (13°30’54.5”N, 89°47’48.9”W), depth 8 m, A. Trejo (20. VII.2018) .

Description. Cushion or encrusting sponge 3–7 mm thick. Color in life is intense orange or reddish, when preserved it becomes light brown or beige ( Figure 6A ). In the skeleton, free mycalostyles are observed, while in the choanosome there are multispicular bands that ascend to the surface, forming brushes ( Figure 6B ). Spicules are mycalostyles, these are straight and with a very pronounced tip (264.8 x 5.4 µm), the head is slightly oval (5.1 µm). As microscleres, there are anisochela in a single category (19.4 µm) and C shape sigmas (37.7 µm) ( Figure 6C–F ).

Ecological notes. The species was found on rocky substrate and calcareous algae from the intertidal zone to 12 m depth.

Distribution and previous records. The species was described by de Laubenfels in 1936 from the Pacific end of the Panama Canal. Reports have been made from the Pacific Coast of Mexico ( Carballo & Cruz-Barraza 2010; Castillo-Páez et al. 2024) and Galápagos Islands ( Desqueyroux-Faúndez & Van Soest 1997). In El Salvador the species is reported from Punta Amapala ( Trejo & Segovia 2024) and now its distribution is extended to Los Cóbanos ( Table 12 ).

Remarks. Our specimens were found in only one coloration type, bright red to reddish-orange, with the typical formation of brushes composed of mycalostyles towards the surface of the sponge. We determined that the specimens correspond to M. cecilia due to the absence of ectosomal skeleton specialization, that is a shared characteristic within the genus Mycale (Carmia) Gray, 1867 . Toxas were also absent in our specimens, which are present in M. (Carmia) contax ( Dickinson, 1945) .

Figures

FIGURE 6. Mycale (Carmia) cecilia. A. Collected specimen at 4 m depth. B. Sectional view of the ectosome. C. Mycalostyles. D. Detail of head and tip of mycalostyle. E. Anisochela. F. C shaped sigma. Scale bars: A, 3 cm; B, 300 µm; C, 25 µm; D, 5 µm; E, 20 µm; F, 12 µm.