Haliclona (Reniera) parvuloxea Bispo & Willenz & Hajdu 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bispo, André
name: Willenz, Philippe
name: Hajdu, Eduardo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Porifera
Demospongiae
Haplosclerida
Chalinidae
Haliclona
Haliclona parvuloxea

description: Haliclona (Reniera) parvuloxea sp. nov.
(Figure 11, Table 3)
Holotype. MNRJ 13044 (Vouchers: RBINS-IG 32241 -POR 13044, MHNG 85832)— Punta Capones, Mangroves of Tumbes, Tumbes Region (03°24’05.30” S, 80°18’ 18.00” W), intertidal, coll. Y. Hooker, Ph. Willenz & K.M. Pretell Monzón (27/XI/2009).
Diagnosis. The only Haliclona in the Eastern Pacific with a combination of encrusting habit, presence of blind fistules, lobate projections frequently bifurcating, with an apical oscula, colour alive yellow; isotropic to isodictyal unispicular skeleton, and oxeas 62–91µm in length.
Description (Fig. 11A, B). Encrusting, with abundant, short, up to 5 mm high, cylindrical or irregular, frequently bifurcate, lobate projections; several blind fistules present; often with small, circular, apical oscula, 0.4–1.3 mm in diameter. Surface smooth, shiny out of water. Consistency soft. Colour in life yellow.
Skeleton (Fig. 11C–E). Ectosome an isodictyal to isotropic, unispicular reticulation. Choanosome an isotropic, unispicular reticulation, more regular in some parts, isodictyal; in others somewhat disorganized. Mesohyl heavily pigmented, rendering a brownish colour that even hampers skeleton observation. Spongin scarce, at the nodes of the reticulation when present.
Spicules (Fig. 11F, G). Oxeas, slender, subtly bent at centre, short acerate points, dimensions 62– 80 –91 x 1.0– 2.5 –4.0 µm (n = 40 x 20).
Ecology. Intertidal, epibiotic over unidentified mangrove tree roots.
Distribution (Fig. 3D). Only known from its type locality, in the mangroves of Tumbes, in Peru.
Etymology. The epithet comes from the L. parvulus (= very little), in reference to the overall small dimensions of oxeas in this species, smaller than in other Peruvian haplosclerids.
Remarks. Little is known of the sponge biodiversity in mangroves along the Tropical Eastern Pacific (Cortés et al. 2009). Unsurprisingly, this is the only yellow Haliclona, with small oxeas, from mangrove habitats in the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Other congeners from the tropical sector of the Peruvian coast include H. (Halich.) marcoriosi sp. nov. and H. (Halich.) multiosculata sp. nov. (Table 3), albeit their dissimilarities in colour, shape, spicule dimensions and habitat differentiate these species from H. (Re.) parvuloxea sp. nov. Comparison with H. (Rh.) manglarensis sp. nov, also occurring in the Tumbes mangrove, is made in the Remarks section of that species.
Yellowish-coloured Haliclona spp. in the Eastern or Central Pacific are H. (Rh.) anceps, H. (S.) auletta, H. (Halicl.) macropora, H. (Halich.) mokuoloea (de Laubenfels, 1950), H. siphonella (Thiele, 1905), H. (Halicl.) spinosella, and H. translucida (Table 3). They all are readily distinguished from H. (Re.) parvuloxea sp. nov. due to the latter’s small-sized oxeas, 62–91 µm long, in addition to several differences in the habit of these species (Thiele 1905; Hajdu et al. 2013).
description: Published as part of Bispo, André, Willenz, Philippe & Hajdu, Eduardo, 2022, Diving into the unknown: fourteen new species of haplosclerid sponges (Demospongiae: Haplosclerida) revealed along the Peruvian coast (Southeastern Pacific), pp. 201-252 in Zootaxa 5087 (2) on pages 234-236, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5087.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5824017