Acanthoclada prostrata, BERGQUIST, 1970

Morrow, Christine, Cárdenas, Paco, Boury-Esnault, Nicole, Picton, Bernard, Mccormack, Grace, Soest, Rob Van, Collins, Allen, Redmond, Niamh, Maggs, Christine, Sigwart, Julia & Allcock, Louise A., 2019, Integrating morphological and molecular taxonomy with the revised concept of Stelligeridae (Porifera: Demospongiae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 187, pp. 31-81 : 64

ACANTHOCLADA PROSTRATA BERGQUIST, 1970

Material examined: NMNZ Por 145, Takatu Point, New Zealand, 36°23′S, 174°50′E, 10 m.

Description: Bergquist (1970) describes this species as ‘thickly encrusting and slimy’ and notes the presence of oocytes in one specimen.

DNA sequences: From NMNZ Por 145, we sequenced the 28S D3 region, (GenBank accession no. MK084764 ).

Remarks: Bergquist (1970) proposed Acanthoclada for sponges with a Higginsia -like skeleton but with the addition of echinating rhabdostyles. In addition to centrotrangulate oxea, Acanthoclada also has cladotoxa and curved birotule microscleres. Bergquist had misgivings regarding the allocation of Acanthoclada to Desmoxyidae owing to the absence of oxeote microscleres. Hooper (2002a) retained Acanthoclada in Desmoxyidae with reservation, stating, ‘being most similar to Higginsia based largely on their affinities in skeletal structure, whereas this assignment is still not certain’. Our 28S gene tree (Supporting Information, Fig. S3) strongly supports a close relationship between Acanthoclada , Halicnemia and Higginsia .