Antarctotetilla grandis (Sollas 1886)
- Dataset
- Description of two new genera (Antarctotetilla, Levantiniella) and a new species of Tetillidae
- Rank
- SPECIES
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Porifera
- class
- Demospongiae
- order
- Tetractinellida
- family
- Tetillidae
- genus
- Antarctotetilla
- species
- Antarctotetilla grandis
description
Description (Fig. 6). Globular, almost spherical sponges, about 10 cm in diameter (Fig. 6 a). Surface smooth; oscules numerous on small conical elevations of the sponge surface (Fig. 6 b). Pores grouped in small depressions, widespread overall the surface (Fig. 6 c). Color beige in life, yellowish brown in alcohol. Pseudocortex (Fig. 6 d) composed of auxiliary oxeas loosely arranged perpendicularly to the surface, as in Antarctotetilla leptoderma. Anchoring anatriaene-made tufts. Spicules (Fig. 7; Table 1). Megascleres: oxeas I (Fig. 7 a) large and fusiform: 3500 – 5513.8 – 7850 µm x 35 – 54.6 – 78 µm. Auxiliary small oxeas II (Fig. 7 b): 600 – 1211.8 – 1900 µm x 6.2 – 20 – 35 µm. Anatriaenes I (Fig. 7 f): 3340 – 9195 – 14550 µm x 17.5 – 26.3 – 30 µm in size with long and thin clades: 140 – 220.3 – 320 µm; rhabdomes fusiform, thicker at the middle and filiform at the terminal part. Anatriaenes II: 1650 – 3483.3 – 6000 µm x 8.7 – 15.6 – 20 µm in size (Fig. 7 e) with short clades: 50 – 75 – 120 µm and fusiform rhabdomes. Protriaenes I (Fig. 7 c): 4180 – 5217.7 – 8000 µm x 10 – 28.4 – 42.5 µm, with clades of 60 – 152 – 280 µm long, usually one clade longer than the others two; rhabdomes tapering from the base of the clades to end in a filamentous termination. Protriaenes II (Fig. 7 d): 1700 – 3152.7 – 5400 µm x 6.2 – 12 – 18.5 µm, with clades: 22.5 – 84.9 – 155 µm in length, usually one clade longer than the other two; rhabdomes tapering to a filiform end. Trichodal protriaenes (Fig. 7 g) very small with filamentous rhabdomes: 465 – 931.6 – 1677.5 x 2.5 – 3.3 – 3.7 µm long and thin, 12.5 – 57.9 – 92.5 µm long clades. Microscleres: Sigmaspires (Fig. 7 h – i): 12.5 – 13.5 – 15 µm in length. Skeletal arrangement. The skeletal structure is typical of Tetillidae, made of bundles of oxeas together with anatriaenes and protriaenes, which radiate upward from the central part to the periphery. Spicules protrude the ectosome only rarely and thus the surface is almost even. Auxiliary oxeas arranged in palisade at the sponge periphery and scattered in the choanosomal zone. Trichodal protriaenes have been reported at the peripheral zone (Sollas 1888), mostly around the incurrent canals under the grouped pores. Sigmaspires spread throughout the sponge.
discussion
Remarks. The variety Tetilla grandis var. alba, which lacks the anchoring basal mass described by Sollas (1886), also seems to belong in Antarctotetilla.
distribution
Distribution and habitat. Antarctic coasts (Newmayer and Terre D’Adelie), Kerguelen Islands (Sollas 1886; Lendenfeld 1907), on sediment and rocky substrates, from 45 to more than 600 meters of depth.
materials_examined
Material examined: holotype of Tetilla grandis NHM 98.1.1.5 Sollas, 1886, Kerguelen, Subantarctic region; Antarctotetilla grandis, CEAB. POR. BIO. 501 b ANT 27123 and CEAB. POR. BIO. 501 aANT 27124, Newmayer, Antarctic coasts, - 70 ° 52.21 ‘ S, 10 ° 35.81 ‘ W, 225 – 284 m depth, 0 1 April 2011; Tetilla grandis, MNHN-IP 2011 167, Terre D’Adelie, Antarctic coasts, - 66 ° 34 ' S, 141 ° 204 ' E, 170 – 210 m depth, 13 January 2008. GenBank accession numbers (Carella et al. 2016): CEAB. POR. BIO. 501 b ANT 27123 (KT 124324, KT 124344, KT 124330 and KT 124363) and CEAB. POR. BIO. 501 a ANT 27124 (KT 124325, KT 124346, KT 124331 and KT 124364).