identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
E622879FFFD8CC4515D9FE8DFD8E0F8B.text	E622879FFFD8CC4515D9FE8DFD8E0F8B.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Plakortis Schulze 1880	<div><p>Genus Plakortis Schulze, 1880</p><p>Definition. Plakinidae with the skeleton formed by diods, with a variable abundance or absence of triods. Diactine derived microscleres (microrhabds), quasiamphiasters, spined diods and spheres may be present in some species; calthrops are absent (Muricy 2011).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFD8CC4515D9FE8DFD8E0F8B	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
E622879FFFD8CC4015D9FDB2FAB80B16.text	E622879FFFD8CC4015D9FDB2FAB80B16.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Plakortis deweerdtaephila	<div><p>Plakortis deweerdtaephila sp. nov.</p><p>(Fig. 2; Table 1)</p><p>Plakortis halichondrioides; Zea et al. 2009 (photographic guide).</p><p>Non: Plakortis halichondrioides (Wilson 1902), a valid species.</p><p>Plakortis sp. 1; Vicente et al. 2014 (ecology and symbiosis).</p><p>Plakortis sp. 1-“under Xestospongia deweerdtae associated”; Zea et al. 2014 (photographic guide).</p><p>Type material. Holotype and type locality: USNM 12 54645, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-82.1863&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=9.35076" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -82.1863/lat 9.35076)">Dolphin Rock</a>, Bocas del Toro, Panama (9.35076° N, - 82.1863° W), 14 m depth, coll. Jan Vicente, May 20, 2015 . Paratype: USNM 1254647, San Salvador, Bahamas (24.0406 ° N, - 74.5314° W), 32 m depth, coll. Jan Vicente, July 19, 2011 .</p><p>Specimens examined for comparison (other than those described here). Plakortis halichondrioides: PHBH, San Salvador (24.0406 ° N, - 74.5314° W), Bahamas, 32 m coll. Jan Vicente, July 19, 2011 ; PHPR, La Parguera, Puerto Rico (17.8883° N, - 66.9981° W), 32 m depth coll. Jan Vicente, June 12, 2012 .</p><p>Diagnosis. Thinly and thickly encrusting to massive cushions with a soft surface and compressible body. Found always associated as basibiont of X. deweerdtae . The latter may partially cover (Bahamas) or may completely overgrow P. deweerdtaephila sp. nov. (Panama). Oscules can be large and slightly elevated (Bahamas) or can be small and even with the surface when growing underneath X. deweerdtae (Panama) . Color is dark brown with occasional olive green patches in vivo and exudes a light brown pigment when preserved in ethanol. Reticulated tangential ectosomal skeleton and a vaguely reticulated choanosomal skeleton with lacunae. Spicules are triods, diods and very small diods.</p><p>Description. External morphology is influenced by the growth progression of X. deweerdtae on the body of Plakortis deweerdtaephila sp. nov. For example, in Panama it can be thinly encrusting (Fig. 2 A) growing underneath a thick (1 cm) mat of X. deweerdtae; very small oscules (1–3 mm). In the Bahamas, sponge pairs form 3 × 30 cm by 1–8 cm thick compressible cushions. X. deweerdtae may overgrow the entire P. deweerdtaephila individual except around the elevated oscules, which are 0.2–0.9 cm in diameter (Fig. 2 B). Oscules in preserved specimens are contracted. External color is dark brown and internal color is light brown. Surface is smooth, soft and irregular. Consistency is compressible, and easily torn.</p><p>Skeleton. Ectosome is composed of a disorganized tangential reticulation of diods and triods. Multispicular tracts are not well defined but form circular meshes, 114– 205 –329 µm diameter (n=20; Fig. 2 C). Spicules never break the surface of the ectosome. When X. deweerdtae forms inner channels within the choanosome of P. deweerdtaephila sp. nov. the ectosome forms a barrier between the two sponge species, as observed in Vicente et al. (2014, their Fig. 7 B). The ectosome (30–50 µm thick) can be easily distinguished from the choanosome with an abundance of subectosomal lacunae and by having a denser aggregation of pigmented cells (Fig. 2 D). The choanosome is dense with a confused reticulation of diods and triods that form circular meshes of varying diameters (Fig. 2 E).</p><p>Spicules. Diods can be very small to large. Large diods are slightly bent but mostly straight, slightly sinuous, with a thick center. Ends of large diods are sharp and sometimes bent (Fig. 2 F–G): Small diods are rare, also thicker in the center and mostly straight. Small diods in Panama (Fig. 2 F) can be as small as 50 µm and in the Bahamas (Fig. 2 H) can be as small as 24 µm. Size (length × width) for Panama, 50– 173.2 (±37.1)–234 µm × 4.3– 7.9 (±1.7)– 11.0 µm; Bahamas, 24– 107.6 (±43.4)–172 µm x 2.4– 3.7 (±0.7)–4.8 µm (Table 1). Triods are not abundant, being Yshaped, smooth, and with sharp endings that are sometimes bent (Fig. 2 I) Size for Panama, 40– 64.2 (±15.8)–103 µm × 1.8– 5.9 (±2.2)–10.9 µm; Bahamas, 26– 45.1 (±11.3)–67 µm × 2.4– 3.3 (±0.5)–4.8 (Table 1). Microrhabds, quasiamphiasters and spheres are absent.</p><p>Spicule Specimen Location* Length (µm) Width (µm)</p><p>Diod Plakortis deweerdtaephila USNM1254645 (h) BDT, Panama 50– 173.2 (±37.1)–234 4– 7.9 (±1.7)–11 Plakortis deweerdtaephila USNM1254647 (p) SS, Bahamas 24– 107.6 (±43.4)–172 2– 3.7 (±0.7)–5 Plakortis symbiotica USNM1254650 (h) LP, Puerto Rico 72– 113.1 (±16.7)–142 2– 3.6 (±0.8)–5 Triods Plakortis deweerdtaephila USNM1254645 (h) BDT, Panama 40– 64.2 (±15.8)–103 1– 5.9 (±2.2)–11 (actine) Plakortis deweerdtaephila USNM1254647 (p) SS, Bahamas 26– 45.1 (±11.3)–68 2– 3.3 (±0.5)–5 Plakortis symbiotica USNM1254650 (h) LP, Puerto Rico 20– 40.4 (±12.8)–71 2– 3.3 (±0.7)–5</p><p>*Location BDT refers to Bocas del Toro, SS refers to San Salvador and LP to La Parguera.</p><p>Habitat and ecology. Extensive surveys performed in the Caribbean suggest that this sponge is obligately associated with X. deweerdtae as free-living forms of P. deweerdtaephila sp. nov. have not been observed in more than 25 surveys that spanned four countries in the Caribbean: Mexico, Bahamas, Puerto Rico (Vicente et al. 2014) and Panama in this study. P. deweerdtaephila / X.deweerdtae sponge pairs have been documented from small sponge recruits to massive adults (Fig. 3 A–C in Vicente et al. 2014). These sponge pairs are found on the upper level (30– 36 m) of mesophotic reef habitats, on vertical walls, shaded sides of pinnacles, as well as cryptic habitats (roof of overhangs and reef caves) of the Caribbean. In Panama the new species was found in a depth of 14 m, on the shaded sides of spur and groove hard bottom habitats exposed to high wave energy; individuals are completely overgrown by X. deweerdtae to the point where the new species is not visible unless the sponge pair is broken.</p><p>Distribution. Bahamas (Little San Salvador, San Salvador, Acklins, Mayaguana, Mira Por Voz, Plana Keys, Hogsty Reef; see also Vicente et al. 2014, Zea et al. 2014) and Panama (Dolphin Rock, Bocas del Toro) (Fig. 1 B, E).</p><p>Etymology. The name deweerdtaephila denotes the close association with Xestospongia deweerdtae, from phila meaning “living or growing by preference”.</p><p>Taxonomic remarks. There are currently 12 Plakortis species known for the TWA of which seven occur in the Caribbean: P. angulospiculatus (Carter 1883), P. zyggompha (De Laubenfels 1934), P. halichondrioides (Wilson 1902), P. myrae Ereskovsky et al., 2014, P. e d w a rd s i Ereskovsky et al., 2014, and P. da r i a e Ereskovsky et al., 2014. P. deweerdtaephila sp. nov. does not have any microrhabds or quasiamphiasters which places it among the P. simplex species group according to Muricy (2011). This species complex in the TWA includes, P. insularis (Moraes &amp; Muricy, 2003), P. zyggompha, P. edwardsi, and P. dariae . By having two size classes of diods the new species is more similar to P. e dw ard s i and P. dariae that inhabit vertical shaded sides of reef boulders in Martinique and were collected along depths of 22– 26 m.</p><p>The external morphology of the new species differs from P. e d w a rds i by having an irregular surface with oscules that can be elevated with large openings. In P. e d w a rds i oscules are flush with the surface (Ereskovsky et al. 2014). The ectosome of the new species has more organized circular meshes than P. edwardsi, without spicules cluttering open circular spaces. There is also an abundance of subectosomal lacunae that separates the ectosome from the choanosome in the new species that is not mentioned in the description of P. e d w a rd s i. The choanosome also has more abundant circular meshes than in P. e d w a rds i. Spicules of specimens from the Bahamas, however, are similar in size and shape to P. e dw ard s i.</p><p>Despite having similar spicule sizes to P. dariae, the new species differs in external morphology and in the skeleton arrangement of the ectosome and choanosome. Also, the color of P. dariae is green, contrasting with the brown of the new species. Sponge individuals of the new species are larger and thicker than P. dariae . The new species also has larger oscules and an irregular surface. The ectosome of P. dariae is poorly differentiated without subectosomal lacunae. Spicules of P. d ar i ae cross the surface of the ectosome while spicules in the ectosome of the new species never cross the surface. The shape of the small diods of P. d ar i ae is also irregular with one end blunt which does not coincide with the shape of small diods in the new species that are always symmetrical.</p><p>The specimen also shows morphological differences to P. insularis, in that it has an irregular surface with large oscules. The skeleton of P. insularis consists of a loose and confused arrangement of diods in low density and in P. deweerdtaephila diods are present in high density forming organized circular meshes. The dense arrangement of diods also forms subectosomal lacunae which are not present in P. insularis . Small diods in P. insularis are also absent.</p><p>The thick massive shape, brown color and dark color exudate, plus having some spicules reaching sizes&gt;150 µm, led Zea et al. (2009) to erroneously identify P. deweerdtaephila as P. halichondrioides . This fact was later corrected (Zea et al. 2014) after the molecular and spicular comparisons of Vicente et al. (2014) demonstrated their distinctiveness. To understand their differences, we made direct comparisons of specimens of P. deweerdtaephila with specimens of P. halichondrioides from the Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Morphologically, the ectosomal skeleton of P. halichondrioides can be distinguished from P. deweerdtaephila in that spicules break the surface of the ectosome. Spicules also protrude inside circular meshes of the ectosome of P. halichondrioides and in P. deweerdtaephila circular meshes are free of spicules. Spicule sizes are also significantly smaller in P. deweerdtaephila than in P. halichondrioides (Vicente et al. 2014) . Differences between P. deweerdtaephila and P. symbiotica are given below in the taxonomic remarks of the latter species.</p><p>Recently, P. angulospiculatus was reported from Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, completely overgrown by X. deweerdtae (Rützler et al. 2014) . Spicule size and shape of the P. angulospiculatus identified by Rützler et al. (2014) are in agreement with P. deweerdtaephila . Thus, its identity needs to be confirmed through molecular analysis, as the sequences of P. angulospiculatus we used herein (see below) turned out to be distantly related to those of P. deweerdtaephila or P. symbiotica . P. angulospiculatus is a widespread Caribbean species, and its many reports may encompass several of the species newly described in the last decade (e.g., Ereskovski et al. 2013; Domingos et al. 2013); it needs to be reassessed, preferably from holotype material. The cob and cox1 gene sequences we used from P. angulospiculatus individuals were determined by Ereskovski et al. (2014) and Erpenbeck et al. (2008), respectively. The only character that apparently may distinguish P. angulospiculatus from our two new species of Plakortis is its lack of dark brown exudate (Ereskovski et al. 2013), but even this needs to be confirmed.</p><p>The most important morphological character that differentiates P. deweerdtaephila from any Plakortis species is that individuals have only been found associated with X. deweerdtae . No other sponge associations between Plakortis and a Xestospongia have been reported other than the P. symbiotica / X. deweerdtae sponge pair (described below). This is the first time that an obligate symbiosis with a heterospecific sponge species is a taxonomic character of any sponge species.</p><p>The larger size of spicules in specimens from Panama in comparison to those from the Bahamas (Table 1), reflect a Caribbean wide geographical pattern present in many groups of sponges, attributed to the apparent enrichment of silicon that continental locations experience, in comparison to oceanic ones (Zea 1987).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFD8CC4015D9FDB2FAB80B16	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
E622879FFFDDCC4F15D9FA08FE380C55.text	E622879FFFDDCC4F15D9FA08FE380C55.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Plakortis symbiotica	<div><p>Plakortis symbiotica sp. nov.</p><p>(Fig. 3; Table 2)</p><p>Plakortis sp. 2; Vicente et al. 2014 (ecology and symbiosis).</p><p>Type material. Holotype and type locality: USNM 1254650, basibiont of Haliclona plakophila sp. nov., Old Buoy, La Parguera, Puerto Rico (17.9552° N, - 67.0532° W), 32 m depth, coll. Jaaziel García Hernández, October 15, 2015 . Paratype USNM 1254649, basibiont of X. deweerdtae, Old Buoy, La Parguera, Puerto Rico, (17.9552° N, - 67.0532° W), 32 m depth, coll. Jan Vicente, August 13, 2012 .</p><p>Specimens examined for comparison (other than those described here). Plakortis halichondrioides: PHBH, Little San Salvador, Bahamas , PHPR, La Parguera, Puerto Rico .</p><p>Diagnosis. Thickly encrusting cushions with a soft irregular surface and compressible body. Found as basibiont of X. deweerdtae but also of Haliclona plakophila sp. nov. In Puerto Rico, both X. deweerdtae and H. plakophila can be found on the same individual of P. symbiotica sp. nov. Both sponge epibionts grow as patches on the P. symbiotica body, never fully covering the basibiont as observed in P. deweerdtaephila, but can penetrate the basibiont body forming inner channels. Oscules are slightly elevated from the surface. Color can be dark green and dark brown in vivo and exudes a brown pigment when preserved in ethanol. Reticulated tangential ectosomal skeleton and reticulated choanosomal skeleton with lacunae present. Spicules consist of triods and diods of one size class.</p><p>Description. Thick cushions 3× 30 cm by 1–3 cm in thickness (Fig. 3 A). Oscules are slightly elevated measuring 0.3–1.7 cm in diameter. Oscules in preserved specimens are contracted. External and internal color is dark brown; a dark brown pigment is exuded when preserved. Surface is smooth, soft and irregular where X. deweerdtae or H. plakophila sp. nov. grows. Consistency is compressible, and easily torn.</p><p>Skeleton. Ectosome is a disorganized tangential reticulation of diods and triods. Multispicular tracts are not well defined but form circular meshes, 43– 73 –121 µm diameter (N=20; Fig. 3 B). Spicules barely break the surface of the ectosome. When X. deweerdtae or H. plakophila sp. nov. form inner channels within the choanosome of P. symbiotica sp. nov., the ectosome forms a barrier between the two sponge species as observed by Vicente et al. (2014, their Fig. 7 E and F). The ectosome (60–70 µm thick) is dense and sometimes hard to distinguish from the choanosome. Subectosomal lacunae are present (Fig. 3 C). The choanosomal skeleton is dense but has an abundance of irregular circular meshes of varying diameters formed by a confused reticulation of diods and triods (Fig. 3 D).</p><p>Spicules. One size class of diods and triods. Diods are significantly sinuously bent, with a thick center. Ends are sharp and significantly bent (Fig. 2 E–F). Size (length x width): 72– 113.1 (±16.7)–142 µm x 2.2– 3.6 (±0.8)–5.0 µm (Table 1). Triods are rare, Y-shaped, smooth, with sharp endings that are sometimes bent (Fig. 2 I): 20– 40.4 (±12.8)–71 µm long by 2.0– 3.3 (±0.7)–4.7 µm in width (Table 1). Microrhabds, quasiamphiasters and spheres are absent.</p><p>Habitat and ecology. Sponge pairs are found on vertical walls (&gt; 30 m), shaded side of pinnacles, and in reef cave habitats. Like Plakortis deweerdtaephila sp. nov., the new species has only been found either associated with X. deweerdtae or H. plakophila, never free-living (Vicente et al. 2014). Sponge pairs have been documented from small recruits (Fig. 3 D in Vicente et al. 2014) and growth morphologies of sponge pairs remain stable for long periods of time (Supplementary Fig. 4 in Vicente et al. 2014).</p><p>Distribution. Bahamas (Little Inagua) and Puerto Rico (Mona Island, La Parguera, Desecheo) (Figure 1 B, D).</p><p>Taxonomic remarks. As in Plakortis deweerdtaephila sp. nov., the lack of microrhabds or quasiamphiasters in P. symbiotica sp. nov., places it within the P. simplex species group (see above, cf. Muricy 2011). P. symbiotica can be distinguished from all species of this complex by its association status with either haplosclerid, as well as by color, shape, size consistency and spicule composition. For example, P. symbiotica has an irregular surface with large oscules which sets it apart from other Plakortis spp. in this group. Unlike P. edwarsii, only large diods are present in P. symbiotica that form organized ectosomal meshes without cluttering opened circular spaces. Diods are also densely packed in both the ectosome and choanosome. P. symbiotica occasionally forms lacunae which are not present in P. da r i a e or P. insularis .</p><p>Other than P. deweerdtaephila, the only other species to associate with X. deweerdtae is P. symbiotica (but see remarks above regarding P. angulospiculatus as basibiont of X. deweerdtae from Belize, cf. Rützler et al. 2014). In Puerto Rico, H. plakophila is also an epibiont of P. s y m b i o t i c a. There are several morphological differences between P. deweerdtaephila and P. symbiotica . For example, P. s y m b i o t i c a has only large diods with small diods absent. The large diods are significantly more bent than in P. deweerdtaephila (Fig. 2 E, F). The ectosome has circular meshes with smaller diameters (43– 73 –121 µm; Fig. 3 B) than the ectosomal circular meshes of P. deweerdtaephila (114– 205 –329 µm; Fig. 2 C). The ectosome is denser and harder to differentiate in cross-sections of P. symbiotica than of P. deweerdtaephila . Subectosomal lacunae are present but much fewer than in P. symbiotica; the choanosome also appears to have more circular meshes than P. symbiotica .</p><p>As for P. deweerdtaephila, P. symbiotica spicules were compared with those of P. halichondrioides by Vicente et al. (2014), and shown to be larger in the latter. Our direct comparisons with a specimen of P. halichondrioides from Puerto Rico show that P. s y m b i o t i c a can be distinguished by having smaller spicules and like P. deweerdtaephila spicules never cross the surface of the ectosome or the open spaces of the circular meshes. Circular meshes are therefore better defined in P. deweerdtaephila than in P. halichondrioides .</p><p>Phylogenetic analysis. Our phylogenetic analysis used maximum likelihood to compare partial sequences of the cytochrome b (cob) and c (cox1) genes of our new Plakortis spp. to other homoscleromorph sponge sequences deposited in GenBank. Our analysis confirmed that P. deweerdtaephila sp. nov. and P. symbiotica sp. nov. are more closely related to one another than to any other homoscleromorph or Plakortis species (Fig. 4). Sequence homology between both species was 93% for cob and 94% for cox1 and formed a clade that was supported with bootstrap values (85 and 78% respectively). On the other hand, these differences are enough to support their status as separate species, which is further supported by the morphological differences outlined above. The closest relatives of the new species were P. simplex and P. dariae with a 92% sequence homology for both genes. Despite having similar morphological features compared to P. e dw ard s i, this species turned out to be more closely related to P. halichondrioides and P. angulospiculatus in the phylogenetic analysis of both genes (Ereskovsky et al. 2013). Support values in the phylogenetic analysis for the P. symbiotica and P. deweerdtaephila clades suggests that the symbiotic association of these sponges with other sponges is perhaps an ancestral, and even a synapomorphic character.</p><p>Etymology. The name symbiotica denotes the tendency of the new species to associate with X. deweerdtae and H. plakophila sp. nov.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFDDCC4F15D9FA08FE380C55	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
E622879FFFD2CC4F15D9F9D0FCC70964.text	E622879FFFD2CC4F15D9F9D0FCC70964.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Chalinidae Gray 1867	<div><p>Family Chalinidae Gray, 1867</p><p>Definition. Haplosclerida with a delicate reticulate choanosomal skeleton of uni-, pausi- or multispicular primary lines, which are regularly connected by unispicular secondary lines. Ectosomal skeleton, if present, a regularly hexagonal, unispicular, tangential reticulation (De Weerdt 2002).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFD2CC4F15D9F9D0FCC70964	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
E622879FFFD2CC4F15D9F8C0FF7609B0.text	E622879FFFD2CC4F15D9F8C0FF7609B0.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Haliclona (Grant 1836) Grant 1836	<div><p>Genus Haliclona (Grant 1836)</p><p>Definition. Chalinidae with unispicular secondary lines (De Weerdt 2002). Type species: Spongia oculata (Pallas, 1766) .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFD2CC4F15D9F8C0FF7609B0	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
E622879FFFD1CC4C15D9FF37FAA80FE9.text	E622879FFFD1CC4C15D9FF37FAA80FE9.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Halichoclona Schmidt 1862	<div><p>Subgenus Halichoclona Schmidt, 1862</p><p>Definition. Chalinidae with a choanosomal skeleton consisting of a subisotropic, somewhat confused reticulation, commonly intercepted by many choanosomal spaces. Ectosomal skeleton of the same structure as that of the choanosome, usually very loosely overlaying the choanosome, from which it may be separated by extensive subectosomal spaces. Spongin absent or very scarce, at the nodes of the spicules. Megascleres usually acerate or hastate oxeas. Microscleres, if present, microxeas or sigmas. Sponges commonly relatively crisp and brittle, only slightly compressible (De Weerdt 2002). Type species: Halichoclona gellindra De Laubenfels, 1932 .</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFD1CC4C15D9FF37FAA80FE9	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
E622879FFFD1CC4D15D9FE51FF450932.text	E622879FFFD1CC4D15D9FE51FF450932.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Haliclona (Halichoclona) plakophila	<div><p>Haliclona (Halichoclona) plakophila sp. nov.</p><p>(Fig. 4; Table 3)</p><p>Xestospongia sp.; Vicente et al. 2014 (ecology and symbiosis).</p><p>Diagnosis. Haliclona (Halichoclona) bluish-white to translucent in color, thinly encrusting with occasional papillate morphology, so far exclusively found in epibiotic association with P. symbiotica sp. nov. Ectosome and choanosome consist of a subisotropic skeleton of oxeas.</p><p>Holotype and type locality: USNM 1254650, Old Buoy, La Parguera, Puerto Rico (17.9552° N, - 67.0532° W), 32 m depth, coll. Jaaziel García Hernandez, October 15, 2015 . Paratype: PRAS 12, and PRAS 22, Old Buoy, La Parguera, Puerto Rico, (17.9552° N, - 67.0532° W), 32 m depth, coll. Jan Vicente, August 13, 2012 . Paratypes.</p><p>Description. Shape small, thinly (1–2 mm thick) encrusting veneer of tissue growing in separate patches on the surface of P. symbiotica sp. nov. (Fig. 4 A). Some individuals developed papillated projections from the encrusting body (Fig. 4 B). Irregular patches of H. plakophila sp. nov. occasionally form channels that burrow into P. symbiotica . Consistency compressible, slightly brittle, delicate, fragile and inelastic. Individuals are bluishwhite in vivo, becoming white or translucent after fixation. Ectosome and choanosome are of the same color. Surface is smooth and very thin. Oscules were not visible.</p><p>Skeleton. Ectosomal skeleton with an isotropic, paucispicular, tangential reticulation of oxeas, where 7–10 spicules meet at the nodes, forming 200 µm meshes. Subectosomal lacunae are present (Fig. 4 C–D). The choanosomal skeleton is formed by a slightly disorganized isotropic reticulation of unispicular oxeas, where 7 spicules meet at each node, forming 100–200 µm meshes (Fig. 4 D–E). The amount of spongin is very low throughout the ectosomal skeleton but more abundant in the choanosome (Fig. 4 C–E). Spicules are not bound by spongin at the nodes.</p><p>Spicules. Oxeas, smooth, slightly curved at the center, fusiform, with hastate ends: 199– 229.5 (±11.5)–277 µm long by 3.5– 5.9 (±1.1)–8.7 µm in width (Table 2, Fig. 4 F).</p><p>Habitat and ecology. More than a dozen individuals were found always associated with P. symbiotica sp. nov. Free-living individuals of H. plakophila sp. nov. have not been found after extensive surveys throughout cryptic habitats of the Caribbean (see survey data in Vicente et al., 2014). Sponge pairs are found below 30 m in cryptic habitats growing on vertical walls, on the roof of overhangs and on the bottom of reef cave habitats. We are investigating multiple factors to determine why these sponges are always found associated with each other.</p><p>Distribution. Only observed at Old buoy, La Parguera, Puerto Rico. Possibly occur in other locations below 30 m along the southern continental shelf of Puerto Rico that offer similar cryptic habitats.</p><p>Etymology. The name plakophila describes the associated lifestyle with Plakortis symbiotica sp. nov., from phila meaning “living or growing by preference”.</p><p>Taxonomic remarks. Because of its relatively large oxea spicules (most above 200 µm), and like Xestospongia deweerdtae being epibiotic on Plakortis, this species was initially and preliminarily considered to belong to the genus Xestospongia (Vicente et al. 2014) . But after molecular analyses (see below) and detailed examination of skeleton, we concluded that this species belongs to the genus Haliclona . Species within Haliclona can have a very simple as well as a more complex variety of morphological characteristics, making the classification of species in this genus very challenging. The genus encompasses over 420 species from which approximately 200 have been assigned to six subgenera [( Gellius Gray, 1867, Halichoclona, Haliclona Grant, 1836, Reniera, Rhizoniera Griessinger, 1971, and Soestella De Weerdt, 2000)] (De Weerdt 2002; Van Soest et al. 2016). In addition, sequences of ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions of marine haplosclerids show no diversity across species (Redmond &amp; McCormack 2009) and phylogenetic studies using several barcoding genes (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, 18S and 28S rRNA) indicate that all subgenera of Haliclona are polyphyletic (McCormack et al. 2002; Redmond et al. 2013; Redmond et al. 2011).</p><p>Despite the taxonomic challenges, a number of morphological characters from our new species are in agreement with the subgenus Halichoclona . The new species has a disorganized choanosomal skeleton without clearly distinguishable primary or paucispicular secondary lines. These skeletal properties distinguish it from the subgenera Gellius, Haliclona, Rhizoneria, which have ascending primary lines and a unispicular skeleton connecting secondary lines (De Weerdt 2000, 2002). The absence of ascending primary lines conforms more to the subgenera Reniera and Soestella . However, the ectosomal skeleton of the new species does not form rounded meshes as observed in Soestella . The ectosomal properties of the new species also do not fit within Reniera, since it is irregular, not unispicular with isotropic reticulation and does not have spongin at the nodes. The ectosomal skeleton of the new species is subisotropic and paucispicular which conforms more to Halichoclona . It also has subectosomal spaces that allow it to be easily detachable from the choanosome. However, the low abundance of spongin in the new species makes it difficult to unquestionably classify it as Halichoclona, as most members of this subgenus only have spongin present at the nodes where spicules meet.</p><p>There are 35 species of Haliclona sponges throughout the TWA of which seven belong to the subgenus Halichoclona (Bispo et al. 2014; Muricy et al. 2015). There are two species described from mangrove habitats in La Parguera, Puerto Rico: H. (H.) magnifica (De Weerdt et al., 1991) and H. (H.) perforata (Pulitzer-Finali 1986) . H. (H.) magnifica is a massive sponge with thick walled tubes, a dense subisotropic reticulation of the ectosome that loosely overlays the choanosome composed of a subisotropic reticulation of oxeas (De Weerdt et al. 1991). H. (H.) perforata is also massive but with friable consistency; the choanosomal and ectosomal skeletons are networks of single spicules connected by spongin at the nodes. The new species is not massive, has a subisotropic reticulation of spicules, but also a paucispicular reticulation at the ectosome without spongin at the nodes; these characters are not found in either of the two halichoclonids from Puerto Rico.</p><p>The other five H. ( Halichoclona) species from the TWA are H. (H.) albifragilis (Hechtel 1965), H. (H.) dura (Sandes et al., 2014), H. (H.) lernerae (Campos et al., 2005), H. (H.) stoneae (De Weerdt, 2000), and H. (H.) vansoesti (De Weerdt 2000) . H. (H.) vansoesti is also blue but forms thick cushions with large elliptical oscules, and has an easily detachable subisotropic ectosomal skeleton (De Weerdt et al. 1999). H. (H.) stoneae also forms thick cushions with large oscules and large oxeas (De Weerdt 2000). H. (H.) lernerae is found in deep habitats off the coast of northern Brazil and exhibits a massive tube-like morphology (Campos et al. 2005). H. (H.) dura is a thickly encrusting sponge with hard incompressible consistency (Sandes et al. 2014). The massive, large oscule morphology of these sponges does not fit our new species. However, H. (H.) albifragilis shares the closest morphological characteristics to our new species. This sponge is small, thinly encrusting, without visible oscula and grows under coral rubble below 74 m in depth, with a subisotropic choanosomal and ectosomal skeleton (De Weerdt 2000). This sponge however, lacks large subectosomal spaces and the new species exhibits large spaces underlying the ectosome. The new species also forms a thin veneer of tissue that exceeds 1 cm patches along the P. symbiotica sp. nov. body. There are also inconsistencies in the description of its color and there is no mention of H. (H.) albifragilis with papillated morphology. Phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences for 18S rRNA and cox genes from Haliclona spp. in GenBank supported that H. plakophila sp. nov. is a new species (results described below).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFD1CC4D15D9FE51FF450932	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
E622879FFFD6CC4B15D9FF37FC2B0F7D.text	E622879FFFD6CC4B15D9FF37FC2B0F7D.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Petrosiidae Van Soest 1980	<div><p>Family Petrosiidae Van Soest, 1980</p><p>Definition. Haplosclerida with an ectosomal skeleton consisting of an isotropic reticulation of single spicules or spicule tracts and a choanosomal skeleton verging towards an isotropic reticulation of spicule tracts, in which primary and secondary tracts are indistinct (Van Soest et al. 1980).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFD6CC4B15D9FF37FC2B0F7D	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
E622879FFFD6CC4B15D9FE3DFCBC0C54.text	E622879FFFD6CC4B15D9FE3DFCBC0C54.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Xestospongia De Laubenfels 1932	<div><p>Genus Xestospongia De Laubenfels, 1932</p><p>Definition. Petrosiidae with an ectosomal skeleton consisting only of anisotropic reticulation of single spicules or spicule tracts (Desqueyroux-Faúndez &amp; Valentine 2002).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFD6CC4B15D9FE3DFCBC0C54	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
E622879FFFD6CC5715D9FDC6FBEF0A76.text	E622879FFFD6CC5715D9FDC6FBEF0A76.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Xestospongia deweerdtae Lehnert & Van Soest 1999	<div><p>Xestospongia deweerdtae Lehnert &amp; Van Soest 1999</p><p>(Figs. 6, 7; Table 3)</p><p>Xestospongia deweerdtae Lehnert &amp; Van Soest, 1999: 163, Figs. 44–47; Van Soest &amp; De Weerdt 2001: 114, Fig. 4 C–D, 5C–D; Rützler et al. 2014: 91; Zea et al. 2014 (“-associated” and “-free living” forms); Vicente et al. 2014, Figs. 3 a–f, 5, 6, 7a–d (ecology and symbiosis with Plakortis spp.).</p><p>Xestospongia sp.2; Zea 2001: Table 1 (appendix).</p><p>Xestospongia sp.-thin pink sheet over Plakortis; Zea et al. 2009.</p><p>Diagnosis. Thinly to thickly encrusting, pink, red and white mottled sponge. Surface smooth. Consistency hard but easily broken and only slightly compressible. Ectosome is a dense tangential reticulation of strongyles bound by spongin. Choanosome is an isotropic reticulation of single spicules with some paucispicular tracts (Lehnert &amp; Van Soest 1999).</p><p>Material examined. Holotype: ZMAPOR13584, Discovery Bay, Jamaica, 82 m depth, coll. Helmut Lehnert, June 26, 1996 ; USNM 1254644, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-82.1265&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=9.3777" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -82.1265/lat 9.3777)">Punta Caracol</a>, Bocas del Toro, Panama (9.3777° N, 82.1265° W) 8 m, coll. Jan Vicente and Micah J. Marty, June 13, 2015 ; USNM 1254645, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-82.1863&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=9.35076" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -82.1863/lat 9.35076)">Dolphin Rock</a>, Bocas del Toro, Panama (9.35076° N, - 82.1863° W), 14 m coll. Jan Vicente and Arcadio Castillo May 20, 2015 ; USNM 1254648, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-67.476&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=18.3918" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -67.476/lat 18.3918)">Yellow Reef</a>, Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico (18.3918° N - 67.4760° W) 23 m coll. Jan Vicente October 7, 2011 ; USNM 1254649, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-66.9981&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=17.8883" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -66.9981/lat 17.8883)">Old Bouy</a>, La Parguera, Puerto Rico (17.8883° N, - 66.9981° W) 31 m, coll. Jan Vicente and Milton Carlo August 8, 2012 ; USNM 1254647, San Salvador, Bahamas, (24.0406° N, - 74.5314° W) 33 m coll. Jan Vicente and Steven E. McMurray July 19, 201; USNM 1254646, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-73.5465&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=22.6045" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -73.5465/lat 22.6045)">Plana Cays</a>, Bahamas (22.6045° N, - 73.5465° W), 32 m coll. Jan Vicente and Steven E. McMurray, July 21, 2011 .</p><p>Description (Figs. 6 A–B, Fig 7 A–B). External morphology is influenced by lifestyle (associated with P. deweerdtaephila sp. nov. or P. symbiotica sp. nov. or free-living) and by environmental factors. Free-living forms of X. deweerdtae in the Bahamas (Fig. 6 A) and Panama (Fig. 7 A) fit the original description of Lehnert &amp; Van Soest (1999) and Van Soest &amp; De Weerdt (2001). They form volcano shaped elevations that can measure up to 5 cm in length and with oscules on top, up to 0.7 cm in diameter. Individuals are light to dark pink, purple (Panama), orange (Bahamas) and turn white when preserved in ethanol; color in the choanosome is the same. Surface smooth; consistency hard, slightly compressible. Although not mentioned in the original description, we noticed that freeliving sponges always exude a viscous slime when cut.</p><p>The external morphology of associated lifestyles does not fit the original description of X. deweerdtae . In the Bahamas, associated individuals can be a thin encrusting veneer of patchy tissue that overlays and burrows into the Plakortis spp. body (Fig. 6 B) (Fig. 6 A–C in Vicente et al. 2014) with no visible oscula. In Panama, associated individuals are thickly encrusting (1 cm) and completely overgrow the P. deweerdtaephila sp. nov. body, forming 6–15 cm diameter plates (Fig. 7 B; small oscules (1–3 mm) are aligned probably due to the high wave energy environment of Dolphin Rock). Associated individuals are softer, slightly compressible and more brittle than freeliving individuals. Color is a light pink and even though we did not find free-living individuals with zoanthids, associated individuals in Puerto Rico were densely covered with red zoanthids (Fig. 3 A).</p><p>Skeleton. Despite the differences in external morphology from the different lifestyles, the ectosome of both associated and free-living morphologies regardless of location consist of a unispicular regular skeleton of strongyles with 6–7 spicules meeting at each node (Fig. 6 C–D; Fig. 7 C–D). Meshes of the ectosome are somewhat triangular. The choanosome for all lifestyles and regardless of location consist of an isotropic reticulation of strongyles with occasional paucispicular tracts, which conform to X. deweerdtae (Lehnert &amp; Van Soest 1999) (Fig. 6 E–H; Fig. 7 E–H).</p><p>Spicules: Thick and sometimes thin strongyles, 151–423 µm long by 6.5–28.2 µm in width. Size and morphology of strongyles depends on the associated status of X. deweerdtae and geographical location. Across all geographical areas sampled (Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Panama), associated individuals have smaller and thinner spicules than free-living ones (see also discussion in Vicente et al. 2014); and between geographical areas, across lifestyles, individuals from island locations such as Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Jamaica have smaller and thinner spicules than those from Panama (Table 3).</p><p>*Specimen ZMAPOR13584 is the holotype (Lehnert &amp; Van Soest 1999)</p><p>Habitat and ecology. X. deweerdtae was originally described from deep (82 m) fore reef habitats and reef caves of Jamaica (Lehnert &amp; Van Soest 1999) and then later found in reef caves (10–12 m) of Curaçao (Van Soest &amp; De Weerdt 2001). In our study, we found X. deweerdtae growing beneath scleractinean corals and on the shaded side of Agaricia reefs in Panama at depths as shallow as 2 m. X. deweerdtae and Plakortis spp. nov. sponge pairs can be found on the shaded side of spur and groove reef formations (14 m) exposed to high wave energy environments in Panama. In the Bahamas and Puerto Rico sponge pairs are found deeper, below 30 m in cryptic habitats growing on vertical walls, on the roof of overhangs and on the bottom of reef caves. Associated individuals of X. deweerdtae are more frequently observed than free-living ones when both lifestyles are present in a given area (Vicente et al., 2014).</p><p>Distribution. (FL=free-living, AS =associated) Jamaica (Discovery Bay-FL) (Lehnert &amp; van Soest, 1999) Curaçao-FL (van Soest &amp; de Weerdt 2001), Mexico (Cozumel-FL, Banco Chinchorro-FL) (Vicente et al., 2014), Bahamas (Plana Cays-FL-AS, Mayaguana-FL, San Salvador-AS, Little San Salvador-AS, Little Inagua-FL-AS, Acklins-FL, Great Inagua-AS, Mira Por Voz-AS) (Also Vicente et al. 2014 and Zea et al. 2014), Puerto Rico (Mona-AS, Desecheo-FL-AS, La Parguera-AS) (also Vicente et al. 2014), Panama, Bocas del Toro (Fiugre 7A-FL, Punta Caracol, Figure 7 B-AS, Dolphin Rock), Colombia (Serrana Bank-AS) (Zea 2001).</p><p>Taxonomic remarks. The polymorphic nature of X. deweerdtae is revealed by lifestyle (associated and freeliving) and by environmental factors (high wave energy and high silica environments, the latter associated with geographical location). Associated individuals do not exhibit a massive morphology and long volcano shaped oscules mentioned in the original description are absent. Instead, associated sponges are thinly to thickly encrusting. In Panama oscules for associated cases are small but visible (1–3 mm) and colonies are more thickly (0.5–1 cm) encrusting than associated individuals from Puerto Rico and the Bahamas (1 mm). Oscules for associated individuals from Puerto Rico and the Bahamas were not visible. Significantly smaller strongyles are observed in associated (250 × 12.2 µm) sponges than free-living sponges (346 × 15.5 µm) in three different geographic areas resembling high and low silica concentrations. This was interpreted as a possible benefit for X. deweerdtae in terms of a lower investment in skeleton synthesis for support (see discussion in Vicente et al. 2014). Another possible explanation is that nutrients may be limiting for both sponges and one species might be depriving the other of silica. On the other hand, in the high silica environments in Panama (see D’Croz et al. 2005) longer and thicker spicules were present in both free-living and associated sponges when compared with both associated and free-living individuals of Puerto Rico and the Bahamas (Table 3). Free-living individuals from Panama also produced not only thicker and longer strongyles, but also had sharply bent terminals that bend either opposite (sshaped) or in the same direction (bracket-shaped) (Fig. 7 I) probably due to hypersilicification (Zea, 1987; Zea et al., 2014). One other important character from free-living sponges, missing in the original description, is the release of viscous mucus by sponges when cut. Associated sponges however, produce very little mucous when cut. The conspecificity of associated and free-living individuals was confirmed with phylogenetic analysis from partial sequences of the 18S, 28S rRNA and cox1 genes (see below and Vicente et al. 2014).</p><p>Phylogenetic analysis. To confirm the identity of Haliclona plakophila sp. nov. as a new species and reconfirm the conspecificity of associated and free-living morphotypes of Xestospongia deweerdtae we partially sequenced the 18S, 28S rRNA and cox1 genes of holotype and paratype specimens. We conducted a maximum likelihood analysis from sequences of species belonging to Haplosclerida that were closely related to Haliclona spp. and Xestospongia spp. deposited in GenBank. The maximum likelihood analysis of the 18S rRNA gene sequence placed H. plakophila distant from any of the monophyletic clades (A–E) previously reported by Redmond et al. (2013) (Fig. 8 A). Members of clade C (Redmond et al., 2013) were not included in the phylogenetic analysis, because sequences from H. plakophila were highly dissimilar to species in this clade. Sequences from associated and free-living individuals of X. deweerdtae were all&gt;99% homologous to each other and to the holotype of X. deweerdtae (ZMAPOR13584), confirming that all specimens of both life styles are conspecific. Conspecificity of all X. deweerdtae lifestyles, including the holotype specimen, had a&gt;99% sequence homology for the 28S rRNA and cox1 genes (Fig. 8 B–C).</p><p>We were unable to retrieve enough sequence data from the holotype specimen of X. deweerdtae to produce a phylogenetic tree of the cox1 with strong bootstrap values, encompassing all closely related Haplosclerida species. However, we had enough sequence data from our material and proceeded to do a maximum likelihood analysis of the cox1 including members of the Haplosclerida that form monophyletic clades A and B from Redmond et al. (2011) (Fig. 9). The clade of all X. deweerdtae conspecifics did not fall into either monophyletic clade. Like X. deweerdtae, H. plakophila sp. nov. also did not fall into either clade A or B (Fig. 9).</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/E622879FFFD6CC5715D9FDC6FBEF0A76	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Vicente, Jan;Zea, Sven;Hill, Russell T.	Vicente, Jan, Zea, Sven, Hill, Russell T. (2016): Sponge epizoism in the Caribbean and the discovery of new Plakortis and Haliclona species, and polymorphism of Xestospongia deweerdtae (Porifera). Zootaxa 4178 (2): 209-233, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4178.2.3
