Corvoheteromeyenia australis Bonetto & Ezcurra de Drago 1966
Creators: name: Calheira, Ludimila
name: Pinheiro, Ulisses
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Porifera
Demospongiae
Haplosclerida
Spongillidae
Corvoheteromeyenia
Corvoheteromeyenia australis

description: Corvoheteromeyenia australis (Bonetto & Ezcurra de Drago, 1966)
(Figs. 3–7; Tab. 1)
Corvomeyenia australis Bonetto & Ezcurra de Drago, 1966: 137, Bonetto & Ezcurra de Drago 1967: 332, Harrison 1971: 124, Ezcurra de Drago 1974: 237, Kilian & Wintermann-Kilian 1976: 81, Volkmer-Ribeiro & Grosser 1981: 89.
Corvomeyenia heterosclera Ezcurra de Drago 1974: 237 (part).
Corvoheteromeyenia australis: Ezcurra de Drago, 1979: 110, Ezcurra de Drago 1993: 120, Manconi & Pronzato 2002: 931, Tavares et al. 2003: 177, Ezcurra de Drago 2004: 201, Amaral et al. 2008: 238, Machado et al. 2012: 22, Tavares-Frigo et al. 2015: 110.
Corvoheteromeyenia heterosclera: Debrot & van Soest 2001: 88.
Material examined. MNRJ 9293, Paraguay Basin, Nossa Senhora do Livramento, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, 15°46’22.7”S 56°20’03.8”W, coll. E. V. Silva-Neto, 3.iii.2004.
Comparative material examined. ZMAPOR 15888, Curaçao, coord. aprox. 12°10’N 68°59’W, coll. A. Debrot, 1.vi. 2000.
Emended diagnosis. Sponge encrusting, massive or arborescent, with megascleres are oxeas, generally smooth; microscleres are pseudobirotules present in two categories; acanthoxea microscleres are absent; gemmuloscleres are birotules inserted radially in the gemmules (modified from Manconi & Pronzato 2002 as indicated by underscore).
Remarks. Tavares-Frigo et al. (2015) reported Corvoheteromeyenia australis in the Pampa Biome, Brazil, and described specimens varying from encrusting to arborescent in shape. However, they did not emend the diagnosis of the species, which consisted only of thin specimens. Based upon this record and on the specimen MNRJ 9293 examined here, we expand the species diagnosis to comprise encrusting, arborescent and massive specimens.
General morphology. Massive with fragile and brittle consistency. The largest fragments have dimensions of 6.0 x 1.5 x 1.7 cm and 4.5 x 1.3 x 1.7 cm (length x width x thickness), the others fragments are less than 1 cm length. Colour grayish green after preservation in ethanol (Fig. 3 A). Surface hispid with simple and circular oscules. Ectosomal skeleton not observed. Choanosomal skeleton is an isotropic paucispicular reticulation with megascleres, microscleres and gemmuloscleres isolated and scattered (Fig. 3 B).
Spicules. Megascleres oxeas (264–354–412.2 / 9.7–14.3–19.3 µm), smooth (predominant) or microspined (rare) (Fig. 4 A). Microscleres pseudobirotules of two categories: pseudobirotules with three or more long hooks on each pseudorotule curved towards the other pseudorotule of the same spicule. Shaft can be straight or curved (16.1–19.2–25.8 / 3.2 µm) and can have protuberances and/or spines (rare) (Fig. 4 B). Also pseudobirotules with short hooks curved towards the other pseudorotule of the same spicule (42–51–64.4 / 4.8–5.6–8.1 µm), slightly curved shaft with simple and compound spines (generally in the median portion of the shaft), straight and curved (Fig. 4 C). Gemmuloscleres birotules (64.4–74.6–80.5 / 6.4–6.5–8.1 // 19.3–20.8–22.5 / 1.6–3.1–3.2 µm), with only one category of shape and size, radially inserted in the theca of gemmules; straight shaft with conical, straight, simple and rarely compound spines (with secondary spines in the tip) (Fig. 4 D,E). Rotules with microspines on their margins, flat (rare) to convex (predominant), and may have marginal incision(s); margin curved towards the other rotule of the same spicule (Fig. 4 F). Gemmules spherical, abundant, scattered throughout the sponge (Fig. 5 A). Gemmular theca tri-layered, well developed, gemmuloscleres radially inserted (Fig. 5 B). Proximal rotule is inserted in the inner layer and the distal rotule usually reaches the outer layer (Fig. 5 C). Foramen simple and circular (Fig. 5 D).
Ecology. Both specimens were collected in artificial environments. MNRJ 9293 was collected on the wall of a fish farm tank that is receives waters of a natural dam, whereas the specimen ZMAPOR 15888 was collected at Curaçao (pH = 8.05; conductivity = 2074 mS, salinity = 0.9 ppt) encrusting on dead branches and iron pilings (Debrot & van Soest 2001).
References: (1) This paper; (2) Debrot & van Soest (2001); (3) Bonetto & Ezcurra đe Drago (1966); (4) Tavares et al. (2003); (5) Tavares-Frigo et al. (2015); (6) Ezcurra đe Drago (1974); (7) Volkmer-Ribeiro & Machađo (2007); (8) Volkmer-Ribeiro & Pauls (2000); (9) Machađo et al. (2012); (10) Pinheiro et al. (2015); (11) Volkmer-Ribeiro & Machađo (2009). (*) two categories; (**) measures only length were taken from figure; (***) iđentifieđ erroneously as C. australis.
Distribution. Brazil: South Atlantic Basin: Rio Grande do Sul State (Muricy et al. 2011, Tavares-Frigo et al. 2015), Argentina: Paraná Basin: Santa Fé (Bonetto & Ezcurra de Drago 1966, Ezcurra de Drago 1974, 1993, 2004, Kilian & Wintermann-Kilian 1976, Volkmer-Ribeiro 1981, Manconi & Pronzato 2002, Volkmer-Ribeiro & Tavares 2008), Curaçao (Debrot & van Soest 2001, Manconi & Pronzato 2005) (Fig. 1).
description: Published as part of Calheira, Ludimila & Pinheiro, Ulisses, 2016, Corvoheteromeyenia Ezcurra de Drago, 1979 (Spongillidae, Porifera): Genus review with proposal of neotype of Corvoheteromeyenia heterosclera (Ezcurra de Drago, 1974), pp. 351-374 in Zootaxa 4126 (3) on pages 353-360, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4126.3.3, http://zenodo.org/record/265911