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Porifera news

New fiber-less Verongida genus from Caribbean

Added on 2015-05-11 09:38:13 by Boury-Esnault, Nicole
Díaz, M.C.; Thacker, R.W.; Redmond, N.E.; Pérez, T.; Collins, A.G. 2015. Vansoestia caribensis gen. nov., sp. nov.: first report of the family Ianthellidae (Verongida, Demospongiae) in the Caribbean. Zootaxa 3956 (3): 403–412.
A thin fiber-less sponge from Caribbean reefs (Bocas del Toro, Panama) with close genetic affinities (based on 18S and 28S nuclear ribosomal RNA gene sequences) to large fan-shaped fiber-bearing sponges (Ianthella and Anomoianthella) from the Indo-Pacific Ocean is here presented. We describe its overall external morphology, histological features, and ultrastructure. Its genetic distance from the only previously known fiber-less verongid genus, Hexadella, prompted the need to erect a new genus to classify this species. This novel species constitutes the first record for a member of the family Ianthellidae in the Caribbean. The characterization of the family Ianthellidae (sensu Cook and Bergquist, 2000) is here modified by: i) highlighting the cavernous nature of the choanosome, with many lacunae and channels reported for all genera included in the family; ii) extending the family distribution to the Caribbean; and iii) adding a fourth genus to the group of verongids with eurypylous chambers. The possession of a cellularized cortex (10–300 µm in thickness) is here proposed as a potential synapomorphic character of the Ianthella–Anomoianthella–Vansoestia clade. The main issues regarding the suprageneric classification of verongids are discussed.

Link: http://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3956.3.5



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