Tectitethya crypta
Creators: name: Ugalde, Diana
name: Fernandez, Julio C. C.
name: Gómez, Patricia
name: Lôbo-Hajdu, Gisele
name: Simões, Nuno
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Porifera
Demospongiae
Tethyida
Tethyidae
Tectitethya
Tectitethya crypta

description: <i>Tectitethya crypta</i> (de Laubenfels, 1949) Tables 6, 7; Figs. 63A–E, 70G <b>Synonymy and references:</b> <i>Cryptothethya crypta</i> de Laubenfels (1949: 20), and Sàra &amp; Bavestrello (1996: 383); <i>Tethya crypta,</i> and <i>Tectitethya crypta</i>: see references complided in Sàra &amp; Bavestrello (1996: 383); <i>Cryptotheca crypta</i>: Lerner <i>et al.</i> (1998: 1). <b>Type locality.</b> The Bahamas. <b>Material examined.</b> CNPGG-2176, Cayo Arcas reef (20.19963°N, 91.96680°W), 7.6 m depth, Diana Ugalde, 25 April 2018; CNPGG-2207, Cayo Arcas reef (20.20183°N, 91.97583°W), 6.9 m depth, Diana Ugalde, 20 August 2018. <b>Description.</b> Massive to lobate habit (Fig. 70G); the overall size is 15 × 10 × 8 cm. The surface is irregular and covered by sand. The sand is also scattered inside the body. The oscules are scattered 1–2 cm in diameter, and have a delicate membrane. Black color <i>in vivo</i> and also in ethanol. The consistency is firm but slightly compressible. <b>Skeleton.</b> Ascending tracts or bundles of spicules radially arranged, protruding outside the surface, the bundles incorporate foreign detritus (Fig. 63A). <b>Spicules.</b> Megascleres:Anisostrongyles to strongyles, straight, fusiform, and smooth (Fig. 63B–C); 792– <i>1098.8</i> (272.8)–1671.5/8.3– <i>13.8</i> (5.1)–21.3 µm. Microscleres: Megasters– oxyspherasters– smooth, with simple or bifid ray (Figs. 63D–E); 37.6– <i>49.4</i> (7.2)–58 µm in diameter. Micrasters–strongylasters–microspined (Figs. 63D–E); 8.7– <i>11.7</i> (2.8)–15.8 µm in diameter. <b>Distribution.</b> Mexico (Maas-Vargas 2004; current records), Bahamas, US (Florida) (de Laubenfels 1949a; Wiedenmayer 1977), Cuba, Greater Antilles (Sarà &amp; Bavestrello 1996). <b>Remarks.</b> There are four valid species of <i>Tectitethya</i> in the TNwA: <i>T. keyensis</i> Sará &amp; Bavestrello 1996 and <i>T. macrostella</i> Sará &amp; Bavestrello 1996 from Florida; <i>T. raphyroides</i> Sará &amp; Bavestrello 1996 from the Cayman Islands; and <i>T. crypta</i> (de Laubenfels 1949) widely distributed in the TNwA (Alcolado 1976; Wiedenmayer 1977; Pulitzer-Finali 1986; Sarà &amp; Bavestrello 1996; Maas-Vargas 2004). The latter species is here reported for the SGoM. The detailed description of <i>T. crypta</i> in Sará &amp; Bavestrello (1996) may be considered as the most reliable description of the species because it was built by the examination of type material and comparisons to other <i>Tectitethya</i> species. Sará &amp; Bavestrello (1996) pointed out the mixture of external aspects of <i>T. keyensis</i> and <i>T. crypta</i> in Wiedenmayer’s redescription, but the spicules refer to <i>T. crypta</i>. The present material coincides with <i>T. crypta</i> in overall traits, except for slight differences in spicule measurements: the anisostrongyles of the original description are congruent with ours (about 20 µm thick in de Laubenfels 1949), but thicker (10–40 µm) in Sará &amp; Bavestrello (1996). The megasters—oxyspherasters are slightly larger in our material (37.6–49.4 µm) than those reported by de Laubenfels and Sará &amp; Bavestrello (10–40 µm). The remaining features are similar to <i>T. crypta</i>.
description: Published as part of <i>Ugalde, Diana, Fernandez, Julio C. C., Gómez, Patricia, Lôbo-Hajdu, Gisele &amp; Simões, Nuno, 2021, An update on the diversity of marine sponges in the southern Gulf of Mexico coral reefs, pp. 1-112 in Zootaxa 5031 (1)</i> on pages 69-70, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5031.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5454380
description: {"references": ["Sara, M. &amp; Bavestrello, G. (1996) West Indies genera Columnitis, Tectitethya and Nucleotethya new genus with description of new species (Porifera, Tethyidae). Bullentin of Marine Science, 59, 370 - 392.", "Lerner, C. B., Schapoval, E., Mothes, B., Henriques, A. T., Schwartsmann, G. &amp; Mans, D. R. A. (1998) Anticancer screening of south Brazilian marine sponges. Annals of Oncology, 9 (Supplemental 2), 35. [abstract]", "Maas-Vargas, M. G. (2004) Inventario de las esponjas marinas (Porifera: Demospongiae) de la Coleccion de Referencia de bentos costeros de ECOSUR. Universidad y ciencia, 20, 23 - 28.", "Laubenfels, M. W. de (1949 a) Sponges of the western Bahamas. American Museum Novitates, 1 - 25.", "Wiedenmayer, F. (1977) Shallow-water sponge of the western Bahamas. Experientia Supplementum, 28, 1 - 287, pls. 1 - 43. https: // doi. org / 10.1007 / 978 - 3 - 0348 - 5797 - 0", "Alcolado, P. M. (1976) Lista de nuevos registros de poriferos para Cuba. Serie Oceanologica, Academia de Ciencias de Cuba, 36, 1 - 11.", "Pulitzer-Finali, G. (1986) A collection of West Indian Demospongiae (Porifera). In appendix, a list of the Demospongiae hitherto recorded from the West Indies. Annali dei Museu civico di storia naturale Giacomo Doria, 86, 65 - 216."]}