Desmanthus rhabdophorus ( Hentschel, 1912 ), 2000

Desmanthus rhabdophorus ( Hentschel, 1912) View in CoL n. comb.

Lophacanthus rhabdophorus Hentschel, 1912: 306 , pl. XVIII, fig. 1. – Sim et al. 1990: 126, pl. 5, figs 1-2.

? Desmanthus incrustans sensu Pulitzer-Finali, 1996: 105 , fig. 4.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — None.

DISTRIBUTION. — Aru Islands (eastern Indonesia), on stones at 8-16 m; S Korea; possibly Papua New Guinea.

DESCRIPTION

Encrusting, 1 mm in thickness, 9.5 cm in widest expansion. Colour grey-white or bluish grey. Surface hispid.

Skeleton

A thin basal layer of desmas I on top which there is a relatively prominent layer of tightly interlocked desmas II. Basally curved styles are lodged head-first in the space between neighbouring desmas and their shafts are obscured by the prominent rhabds of the desmas II.

Spicules

Desmas I smooth with relatively thin cladi, dimensions: 150-160 × 15 µm. Desmas II robust with prominent rhabdome, cladome 104- 192 µm, rhabdome, dimensions: 184-256 × 25- 30 µm. Styles smooth, mostly with slightly curved blunt end, of widely variable size: 264- 640 × 7-16 µm.

REMARKS

Sim et al. (1990) recorded this species from Cheju Island, S Korea. The spicule sizes were reported to be considerably larger than those of the type, dimensions: desmas I: 173-287 × 20- 27 µm, desmas II: 226-300 × 11-27 µm and styles 639-865 × 3-20 µm. This is treated as infraspecific variation until further data will become available.