Endectyon (Endectyon) hyle (de Laubenfels, 1930 )

Endectyon (Endectyon) hyle (de Laubenfels, 1930) View in CoL

Figure 5 View FIGURE 5 , Table 5 View TABLE 5

Examined material. MUHNES-91-52 — El Candado (13°30’40.6”N, 89°47’56.7”W), depth 6 m, A. Trejo (19. VI.2018). GoogleMaps

Description. Branched sponge 3 cm wide and 5 cm high. Each branch of the sponge has two rounded lobes, each 0.5 cm in diameter ( Figure 5A View FIGURE 5 ). The surface is irregular, no oscula are observed. Hard consistency and difficult to break. Color in life is bright orange with fine sediment on it, when preserved in alcohol it turns beige. The ectosome consists of a layer of straight, long and thin styles (200–250 x 1–2 µm) ( Figure 5B View FIGURE 5 ). There is an extra-axial subectosome made up of styles that project their tips toward the surface. The choanosome is a compressed axial skeleton formed by primary multispicular fibers interconnected by secondary fibers of two or more spicules, where styles and acanthostyles meet ( Figure 5C View FIGURE 5 ). The species presents styles in two categories, those of the ectosome that are straight and very thin, while those of the sub ectosome and choanosome are robust, with a sharp point and some are curved in the middle or in the third region closest to the head, the acanthostyles are stout with prominent spines from the mid-region to the tip of the spicule ( Figure 5D–F View FIGURE 5 ).

Ecological notes. The species was found on sandy substrate at 6 m depth.

Distribution and previous records. The species was described by de Laubenfels in 1930 from California. Reports have been made from Galapagos Islands ( Desqueyroux-Faúndez & Van Soest 1997) and Mexican Pacific Ocean ( Aguilar-Camacho & Carballo 2013). In El Salvador, the species has been recorded in Punta Amapala ( Trejo & Segovia 2024). Here we extend the species distribution in the country to Los Cóbanos ( Table 12 View TABLE 12 ).

Remarks. The specimen is similar to the original description in skeletal arrangement and spicule composition (De Laubenfels 1932), although, the size of our specimen is slightly larger, up to 5 cm high. Also, in the type specimen there are two size categories of choanosome styles, unlike our specimen where only one size category was found. Aguilar-Camacho et al. (2013) also describe specimens with a single size category of choanosome style, but these are much larger than the ones reported here (up to 780 µm length).