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First record of the Indo-Pacific sponge genus Rhaphidhistia (Demospongiae, Hadromerida, Trachycladidae) from the Caribbean Sea, with description of a new species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2013

Christian M. Díaz*
Affiliation:
Museo de Historia Natural Marina de Colombia, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras — INVEMAR, Calle 25#2-55, Rodadero, Santa Marta, Colombia
Sven Zea
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudios en Ciencias del Mar — CECIMAR, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Caribe, c/o INVEMAR, Calle 25#2-55, Rodadero, Santa Marta, Colombia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: C.M. Díaz, Calle 25 No. 2-55, Playa Salguero, Santa Marto D.T.C.H., Colombia email: [email protected]

Abstract

Exploration of continental shelves may produce unexpected faunal records. In shelf waters of La Guajira peninsula, Colombia, in the northern tip of South America, southern Caribbean Sea, we found a new species of Rhaphidhistia (Demospongiae, Hadromerida, Trachycladidae) a genus previously thought to be restricted to the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Rhaphidhistia guajiraensis sp. nov. is thickly encrusting, agglutinating bottom debris; it possesses asymmetric oxea as megascleres (465–757 μm by 6.3–17.5 μm) and spiraster-like spinispirae (15–37 μm by 2–5 μm). It is closely similar to the type species of the genus, R. spectabilis Carter, 1879, both standing apart from a third species, R. mirabilis (Dendy, 1924), thus conforming a natural group whose taxonomic placement needs to be reassessed. There are numerous cases of sponge genera with sister species in the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, possibly split since the Tethys Sea breakup; owing to their restricted or deep distribution, they are just starting to be discovered.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

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