Strongylodesma tsitsikammaensis Samaai, Gibbons, Kelly & Davies-Coleman, 2003, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Samaai, Toufiek
name: Gibbons, Mark J.
name: Kelly, Michelle
name: Davies-Coleman, Mike
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2003
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Porifera
Demospongiae
Poecilosclerida
Latrunculiidae
Strongylodesma
Strongylodesma tsitsikammaensis

description: Strongylodesma tsitsikammaensis sp. nov. (Figs 3 E, 5F, 6E)
Holotype material. BMNH 1996.7.3.5: Rheeders Bay, Tsitsikamma, South Africa, 34° 10'S, 23° 54'E, 1.5 m, collected by Dr P. Coetzee, University of Port Elizabeth, Dr M. Davis­Coleman, Rhodes University, 27 June 1996.
Paratype material. SAM H­ 4965: Rheeders Bay, Tsitsikamma, South Africa, 34° 10'S, 23° 54'E, collected by Dr P. Coetzee, University of Port Elizabeth, Dr M. Davis­ Coleman, Rhodes University, 27 June 1996, 1.5 m; SAM H­ 4966: Rheeders Bay, Tsitsikamma, South Africa, 34° 10'S, 23° 54'E, collected by Dr P. Coetzee, University of Port Elizabeth, Dr M. Davis­Coleman, Rhodes University 15 July 1996, 1.5 m; SAM H­ 4967: Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 33° 50'S, 25° 45'E, collected by Dr P. Coetzee, University of Port Elizabeth, 20 September, 1996, 15 m; SAM H­ 4968: Rheeders bay, Tsitsikamma, 34° 10'S, 23° 54'E, collected by Dr M. Davis­Coleman, 15 October, 1998, 1.5 m; SAM H­ 4969: Rheeders Bay, Tsitsikamma, South Africa, 34° 10'S, 23° 54'E, collected by Dr M. Davis­Coleman, Rhodes University, 15 October, 1998, 1.5 m; SAM H­ 4970: Rheeders bay, Tsitsikamma, 34° 10'S, 23° 54'E, intertidal rock pools, collected by Dr M. Davis­Coleman, Rhodes University, 5 April, 1999, 2 m.
Description. Semispherical, 8 x 10 x 3 cm (length x width x height) (Fig. 3 E). Texture resilient, slightly compressible. Surface smooth with numerous, randomly scattered cylindrical or volcano­shaped, thin­lipped oscules, 3–4 mm high and 2–3 mm wide, with internal dividing membranes. Areolate porefields, smooth, fungiform, 1 mm high and 2–6 mm wide. Sand particles sometimes present on the surface of the sponge. External colour in life greenish­brown, interior brown; in preservative dark leather brown.
Spicules. Megascleres — Anisostrongyles (Fig. 6 E): smooth; 348 (307–403) x 7.32 (7.2–9.6) m.
Skeleton. The choanosomal skeleton consists of a dense, meandering, irregular reticulation of wispy tracts of megascleres approximately 80–100 m thick (Fig. 5 F). In the deeper choanosome the tracts are ill­defined but diverge towards the surface where they become more robust and plumose, tracts now 200–250 m wide. Interstitial megascleres are common. The subectosome is a dense paratangential feltwork of anisostrongyles approximately 320 m deep, these protrude beyond the surface in a haphazard manner.
Ecology. Found in intertidal rock pools and sand­filled gullies, associated with bryozoa, algae, hard coral and other sponges, 1.5–2.0 m. In deeper waters off Algoa Bay the sponge is found on moderately rugged rocky bottom, with patches of sand between rocks, together with coral and other sponge at a depth of 15 m.
Etymology. Named for Tsitsikamma National Park, the location of discovery of this and several other new species of Latrunculiidae.
Remarks. S. tsitsikammaensis sp. nov. and S. algoaensis sp. nov. are separated by habitat, the former found in intertidal rock pools and gullies in the Tsitsikamma National Park region, the latter restricted to deeper waters on rocky platforms associated with hard coral in Algoa Bay to the north­east. The two species differ in colouration, S. tsitsikammaensis sp. nov. is greenish brown while S. algoaensis sp. nov. is brown. The oscules of S. tsitsikammaensis sp. nov. have internal divisions, while those of S. algoaensis sp. nov. do not. The two species have quite different textures; S. algoaensis sp. nov. is fleshy and compressible while S. tsitsikammaensis sp. nov. is much firmer. This is reflected in the structure of the subectosomal region in both species; that of S. algoaensis sp. nov. is a loose feltwork of megascleres 120–200 m deep, whereas in the former species the subectosome is densely packed and 320 m deep.
description: Published as part of Samaai, Toufiek, Gibbons, Mark J., Kelly, Michelle & Davies-Coleman, Mike, 2003, South African Latrunculiidae (Porifera: Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida): descriptions of new species of Latrunculia du Bocage, Strongylodesma Lévi, and Tsitsikamma Samaai & Kelly, pp. 1-26 in Zootaxa 371 on page 18, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.156901