Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:52:57.616Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A new species of Thorecta (Porifera: Demospongiae) from the western Atlantic, with remarks on the taxonomy of the genus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2010

Josivete P. Santos
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Zoologia, Avenida Prof. Moraes Rêgo, 1235, Cidade Universitária, CEP 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
Suzane M. da Silva
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Zoologia, Avenida Prof. Moraes Rêgo, 1235, Cidade Universitária, CEP 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
Paulo H.O. Bonifácio
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Zoologia, Avenida Prof. Moraes Rêgo, 1235, Cidade Universitária, CEP 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
Eduardo L. Esteves
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional, Departamento de Invertebrados, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Ulisses S. Pinheiro*
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Zoologia, Avenida Prof. Moraes Rêgo, 1235, Cidade Universitária, CEP 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
Guilherme Muricy
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacional, Departamento de Invertebrados, 20940-040, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: U.S. Pinheiro, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Zoologia. Avenida Prof. Moraes Rêgo, 1235 Cidade Universitária. CEP 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil email: [email protected]

Abstract

The family Thorectidae includes 23 valid genera and 130 species, characterized by the presence of laminated fibres and diplodal choanocytye chambers. Currently the genus Thorecta comprises approximately 20 valid species, distributed mainly in the Indo-Pacific. We describe here a new species of Thorecta that is the only valid species of the genus described in the Atlantic Ocean so far. Samples were collected by trawling on board of the RV ‘Astro Garoupa’ in Potiguar Basin, on the northern coast of Rio Grande do Norte State, north-eastern Brazil. Thorecta atlantica sp. nov. is greyish-brown to dark brownish-grey and presents a distinctive globular or clavulate shape, with 1–2 large apical oscules that open to deep atria. It was found between 61 and 160 m depth. A literature survey suggests that many species referred to Thorecta should be relocated to different genera due to absence of diagnostic characters, and that the genus Thorecta should group only 11 species: T. carteri, T. marginalis, T. prima, T. lata, T. farlovi, T. meandrina, T. polygona, T. reticulata, T. tuberculata, T. vasiformis and T. atlantica sp. nov. The tortuous history of the genus is an example of the damage that poorly-described species can cause to classification. Detailed descriptions of fresh material, well illustrated by photographs and including as many characters as possible, are essential tools for the clarification of the systematics of Thorecta in the future.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bergquist, P.R. (1978) Sponges. Hutchinson: London and Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 268 pp.Google Scholar
Bergquist, P.R. (1980) A revision of the supraspecific classification of the orders Dictyoceratida, Dendroceratida and Verongida (class Demospongiae). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 7, 443503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowerbank, J.S. (1872) Contributions to a general history of the Spongiadae. Part I. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 115–129, pls V, VI.Google Scholar
Carter, H.J. (1885) Descriptions of sponges from the neighbourhood of Port Phillip Heads, South Australia. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 15, 301321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, S.C. (2007) Clarification of dictyoceratid taxonomic characters, and the determination of genera. In Custódio, M.R., Lôbo-Hajdu, G., Hajdu, E. and Muricy, G. (eds) Porifera research: biodiversity, innovation and sustainability. Série Livros 28, Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, pp. 265274.Google Scholar
Cook, S.C. and Bergquist, P.R. (1996) New species of dictyoceratid sponges (Porifera: Demospongiae: Dictyoceratida) from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 30, 1934.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, S.C. and Bergquist, P.R. (2002) Family Thorectidae Bergquist, 1978. In Hooper, J.N.A. and Van Soest, R.W.M. (eds) Systema Porifera: a guide to the classification of sponges. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, pp. 10401062.Google Scholar
Duchassaing de Fonbressin, P. and Michelotti, G. (1864) Spongiaires de la mer Caraïbe. Harlem: Les Héritiers Loisées.Google Scholar
Hooper, J.N.A. and Wiedenmayer, F. (1994) Porifera. In Wells, A. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Melbourne: CSIRO, pp. 1620.Google Scholar
Hyatt, A. (1877) Revision of the North American Poriferae; with remarks upon foreign species. Part II. Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History 2, 481554, pls XV–XVII.Google Scholar
ICZN (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) (1999) International code of zoological nomenclature. 4th edition.London: The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature.Google Scholar
Lamarck, J.B.P. and De Monet Comte De (1813–1814) Sur les polypiers empâtés. Suite du mémoire intitulé: Sur les Polypiers empâtés. Suite des éponges. Archives du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 20, 294312 (published 1813), 370–386, 432–458 (published 1814).Google Scholar
Lamarck, J.B.P. and De Monet, Comte De (1815 [1814]). Suite des polypiers empâtés. Mémoires du Muséum d'Histoire naturelle, Paris 1, 6980, 162–168, 331–340.Google Scholar
De Laubenfels, M.W. (1948) The order Keratosa of the phylum Porifera—a monographic study. Occasional Papers of the Allan Hancock Foundation 3, 1217.Google Scholar
Lendenfeld, R. Von (1885) A monograph of the Australian sponges. Part 6. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 10, 481553, pls 36–38.Google Scholar
Lendenfeld, R. Von (1888) Descriptive catalogue of the sponges in the Australian Museum, Sidney. London: Taylor & Francis, ixiv, 260 pp, pls 1–12.Google Scholar
Lendenfeld, R. Von (1889) A monograph of the horny sponges. London: Trübner and Co., iiiiv, 936 pp, pls 1–50.Google Scholar
Muricy, G., Santos, C.P., Batista, D., Lopes, D.A., Pagnoncelli, D., Monteiro, L.C., Oliveira, M.V., Carvalho, M.S., Melão, M., Moreira, M.C.F., Klautau, M., Rodriguez, P.R.D., Costa, R.N., Silvano, R.G., Schwientek, S., Ribeiro, S.M., Pinheiro, U.S. and Hajdu, E. (2006) Capítulo 3. Filo Porifera. In Lavrado, H.P. and Ignacio, B.L. (eds) Biodiversidade bentônica da região central da Zona Econômica Exclusiva brasileira. Série Livros 18, Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, pp. 109145.Google Scholar
Muricy, G., Esteves, E.L., Moraes, F., Santos, J.P., Silva, S.M., Klautau, M. and Lanna, E. (2008) Biodiversidade Marinha da Bacia Potiguar: Porifera. Série Livros 29, Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, 156 pp.Google Scholar
Poléjaeff, N. (1884) Report on the Keratosa collected by H.M.S. ‘Challenger’ during the years 1873–1876. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. ‘Challenger’, 1873–1876. Zoology 11, 188, pls I–X.Google Scholar
Soest, R.W.M. Van (1978) Marine sponges from Curaçao and other Caribbean localities. Part I. Keratosa. In Hummelinck, P.W. and Van der Steen, L.J. (eds) Uitgaven van de Natuurwetenschappelijke Studiekring voor Suriname en de Nederlandse Antillen. No. 94, Studies on the Fauna of Curaçao and other Caribbean Islands 56, pp. 194, pls I–XV.Google Scholar
Wiedenmayer, F. (1977) Shallow-water sponges of the western Bahamas. Experientia Supplementum 28, 1287, pls 1–43.Google Scholar
Wiedenmayer, F. (1989) Demospongiae (Porifera) from northern Bass Strait, southern Australia. Memoirs of the Museum of Victoria 50, 1242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zea, S. (1987) Esponjas del Caribe Colombiano. Bogotá: Editorial Catálogo Científico, 187 pp.Google Scholar