Leucaltis clathria Haeckel, 1872

Leucaltis clathria Haeckel, 1872 View in CoL

( Figures 11–12 View FIGURE11 View FIGURE 12 , Table 11)

Synonyms. Artynas clathria: Haeckel 1872: 159 , Heteropegma nodusgordii: Poléjaeff 1883: 45 , Hanitsch 1895: 209. Leucaltis clathria: Haeckel 1872: 159 , Dendy 1913: 16, Arndt 1940: 46, Borojevic & Peixinho 1976: 1002, Borojevic 1998: 75, Borojevic et al. 2002: 1148, Muricy et al. 2008: 131, Lanna et al. 2009: 13, Muricy et al. 2011: 35, Klautau et al. 2013: 449, Van Soest 2017: 198, Cóndor-Luján et al. 2018: 61.

Material Examined. ( One specimen) UFRJPOR 7671, Le Rocher du Diamant, Martinique ( 14°26.556' N – 61°2.408' W), collected by F. Azevedo, 25 April 2015, 18.8 m depth. GoogleMaps

Colour. Light pink alive and white in ethanol.

Description. Sponge formed by anastomosed tubes with apical oscula and central atrium ( Figures 11A–B View FIGURE11 ). Each tube has a cortex and atrium. Consistency firm, friable and rough to the touch. Elongated choanocitary chambers. The analysed specimen has many larvae in the choanosome ( Figure 11C View FIGURE11 ).

Skeleton. The cortical skeleton is composed of giant triactines and tetractines ( Figure 11D View FIGURE11 ). The apical actine of the tetractines crosses the choanosome and penetrates the atrium, which becomes hispid ( Figures 11D–E View FIGURE11 ). The sagittal spicules are mainly found surrounding the canals and the atrium ( Figure 11F View FIGURE11 ). The choanosome is also composed of very small regular and sagittal triactines and tetractines ( Figure 11G View FIGURE11 ).

Spicules ( Table 11).

Triactine I: Regular. Very variable in size. Actines are conical with sharp tips ( Figure 12A View FIGURE 12 ). Size: 330.0– 720.0/40.0–75.0 µm.

Tetractine I: Regular. It is similar to triactine I, but larger and thicker ( Figure 12B View FIGURE 12 ). The apical actine of the tetractines is conical, large, thick, straight, smooth with a sharp tip ( Figure 12C View FIGURE 12 ). Size: 420.0–900.0/40.0–120.0 µm.

Triactine II: Regular or sagittal. Actines are cylindrical, with blunt or rounded tips ( Figures 11F View FIGURE11 , 12D View FIGURE 12 ). Size: 52.5–65.0/2.5–5.0 µm (regular), 30.0–67.5/2.5–5.0 µm (sagittal, unpaired actine), 57.5–70.0/2.5–5.0 µm (sagittal, paired actines).

Tetractine II: Regular or sagittal. Actines are cylindrical with blunt or rounded tips ( Figures 11F View FIGURE11 , 12E View FIGURE 12 ). Size: 30.0–62.5/2.5–3.7 µm (regular), 32.5–52.5/2.5–5.0 µm (sagittal, unpaired actine), 37.5–72.5/2.5–5.0 µm (sagittal, paired actine).

Ecology. The analysed specimen was collected at the entrance of a cave, in a shaded environment. No epibionts were found.

Geographical distribution. Atlantic Ocean: U.S.A. Florida ( Haeckel 1872), off Bermuda (Poléjaeff 1883), Panama ( Klautau et al. 2013), Portugal ( Hanitsch 1895; Arndt 1940), Guyana Shelf (Van Soest 2017), Brazil— Pará State, Alagoas State, Ceará State, Rio Grande do Norte State, Sergipe State, Espírito Santo State ( Borojevic & Peixinho 1976; Muricy et al. 2008; 2011, Lanna et al. 2009).

Remarks. For a long time, Leucaltis clathria was considered to be a cosmopolitan species (Poléjaeff 1883; Carter 1886; Dendy 1892, 1893, 1905; Borojevic 1998, Borojevic & Klautau 2000). However, in 2013 Klautau et al. generated DNA sequences of L. clathria from the Caribbean Sea ( type locality of this species) and from Australia, and suggested that the specimens from Australia comprised a distinct species. In 2015, Van Soest & De Voogd published a work about calcareous sponges from Indonesia and proposed that Indo-Pacific specimens morphologically similar to L. clathria should be called L. nodusgordii (Poléjaeff, 1883) . Therefore, L. clathria is currently considered to be present only in the Atlantic Ocean, having an amphi-Atlantic distribution.