Racodiscula sceptrellifera var. spiroglyphi Annandale 1911
Creators: name: Van Soest, Rob W. M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Porifera
Demospongiae
Tetractinellida
Theonellidae
Racodiscula
Racodiscula sceptrellifera
Racodiscula sceptrellifera var. spiroglyphi annandale, 1911

description: Racodiscula sceptrellifera var. spiroglyphi Annandale, 1911
(Figs. 6 I-J)
Racodiscula sceptrellifera var. spiroglyphi Annandale, 1911b: 52, pl. VIII fig. 2, pl. IX figs. 1–15; Pattanayak 2009: 12, pl. VI fig. F.
The variety was described in the same paper and from the same locality as the previous variety, and it was collected likewise during the same cruise of the trawler ‘Golden Crown’. The dried type specimen growing on a vermetid shell of the genus Spiroglyphus is kept in the collections of the Zoological Survey of India, ZSI, Kolkata, ZEV4651 (Pattanayak 2009: 12). The typical variety was described by Carter (1881: 372 from the Gulf of Mannaar, approximate coordinates 9.13°N 79.14°E, type material from the Liverpool Museum was destroyed during WWII, but there are slides in the Natural History Museum labeled with the name Discodermia sceptrellifera). Additional records are from the Madras region (Burton & Rao 1932: 307) and from the Seychelles (Thomas 1981: 40, pl. II fig. 26). The present variety differs from the typical variety according to Annandale in the color (deep orange to bright red vs. yellow), the absence of ectosomal discotriaenes and the presence of bundles of slim rhabds. The color difference is trivial as Carter had only preserved (dried) material, Carter’s ectosomal discotriaenes graded into phyllotriaenelike ectosomal spicules similar to those of Annandale. Thus, only the presence of bundles of monaxone (oxeote or stylote) megascleres appears to be different between the two. Such bundles are found in the (neo) type of Racodiscula asteroides Zittel, 1878 and other Racodiscula species, (cf. Schuster et al. 2018: 14–24). Subsequent descriptions of Discodermia sceptrellifera by Burton & Rao (1932), Thomas (1981), and Thomas (1985: 345, pl. VIII fig. 8) do not mention the presence of these spicule bundles. Burton & Rao’s report concerned the same material as Annandale’s as they mention the same locality (Ganjam) and the ‘Golden Crown’ collection for their specimens. These authors only used the name Discodermia sceptrellifera, did not refer to Annandale or the varieties described by him, nor did they mention bundles of monaxons. Thus, it is likely that type material of either the present variety or Racodiscula sceptrellifera var. siliquariae Annandale, 1911b (see above) is also kept in the Natural History Museum as BMNH 1931.1.1.15.
Although the difference between the present variety and the typical variety may be a case of collectively overlooking the monaxons by several authors, it is prudent to keep the the taxa as distinct in case the difference is genuine. In view of the semi-sympatric occurrence (Gulf of Mannar, Madras region, Seychelles) I propose to elevate the rank of the present variety for the time being to species level as Racodiscula spiroglyphi Annandale, 1911b, based on page priority, being the first mentioned variety.
description: Published as part of Van Soest, Rob W. M., 2024, Correcting sponge names: nomenclatural update of lower taxa level Porifera, pp. 1-122 in Zootaxa 5398 (1) on page 60, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5398.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10494167