Triptolemma simplex ( Sarà, 1959 )

Triptolemma simplex ( Sarà, 1959) View in CoL

( Figure 8 View FIGURE 8 )

Triptolemmus simpex Sarà, 1959: 5–8 View in CoL , fig. 2.

Triptolemma simplex, Bertolino et al. 2011: 333–336 View in CoL , fig. 5–7.

Material examined: ESFM-POR/2017-635 , S26, 15 m, on coralligenous habitat, 1 specimen .

Description: It is an encrusting species ( Figure 8a View FIGURE 8 ), greyish in alcohol. The surface is smooth. The patency of the osculum is unclear. The consistency is soft. Its spicules are composed of dichotriaenes, mesocalthrops, amphiasters, resembling a staghorn, and their supporting bundles of oxea ( Figure 8c View FIGURE 8 1 View FIGURE 1 , 2 View FIGURE 2 ). Oxeas are in one category and slightly curved in the middle (3–10 × 200–350 μm) ( Figure 8b View FIGURE 8 1 View FIGURE 1 ). Dichotrianes range in size (cladome of symmetrical spicules): 23–40 × 2.5–5 μm) ( Figure 8b View FIGURE 8 2 View FIGURE 2 ). The presence of mesocalthrops is quite rare compared to other spicules (50–75 × 5–10 μm) ( Figure 8b View FIGURE 8 3 View FIGURE 3 ). Amphiasters are sparsely spined (5–7.5 × 1,2 μm) ( Figure 8b View FIGURE 8 4 View FIGURE 4 ). Spiny microrhabds occur in two size classes (11–14.5 × 2.5–4.8 μm, 24–35 × 2–6 μm).

Habitat and distribution: This species was previously reported in coralligenous habitats and cave walls, up to 40 m depth ( Sarà 1959, Bertolino et al. 2011). In the study area, this species was also found in coralligenous habitats at 15 m at station 26. It is an endemic species of the Mediterranean, occurring on the coasts of the Tyrrhenian ( Sarà 1959), Ligurian ( Bertolino et al. 2010) and Ionian ( Longo et al. 2018) coasts. It is a new record for the sponge fauna of the eastern Mediterranean.