Aplysina lactuca Pinheiro, Hajdu & Custódio, 2007, sp.n.
Creators: name: Pinheiro, Ulisses Dos S.
name: Hajdu, Eduardo
name: Custódio, Márcio R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2007
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Porifera
Demospongiae
Verongida
Aplysinidae
Aplysina
Aplysina lactuca

description: Aplysina lactuca sp.n. (Figs. 16 B, 17A, 18, Tab. VIII)
Holotype: MNRJ 5477, Siriba Island, (Parque Nacional Marinho dos Abrolhos, BA), 10 m depth, U.S. Pinheiro and E. Esteves coll., 02/III/2002.
Paratypes: MNRJ 5276, 5278, Pedra do Silva, south side, (Reserva Extrativista de Corumbau, Prado, BA, 16º53'42.1'' S - 39º05'31.2'' W), 5 m depth, U.S. Pinheiro coll., 23/I/2002.
Additional material: MNRJ 8672, Parque Estadual da Pedra da Risca do Meio (03°35'889 S - 38°23'481 W, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil), 22 m depth, E. Hajdu coll., 14/VII/2004.
Diagnosis: It presents a centrally anastomosed lamellar form, which reminds the root buttresses of large tropical canopy trees. The species is yellowish-brown in vivo, turning purple after preservation in ethanol.
Description of the species:
The specimens besrs centrally anastomosed lamellas, giving the sponge a form which reminds the root buttresses of large tropical canopy trees (Figs. 17A, 18A–B). Some lamellas possess ridges and holes longitudinaly extending themselves from the base to the top, in only one of the sides. Small oscula (0.1 cm wide) are spread on all sides. The surface is finely conulose, with small depressions. The colour is yellowish-brown in vivo, turning purple after preservation in ethanol. Consistency is very soft and flexible.
Skeleton: Choanosome with a delicate and irregular network of spongin fibers (Fig. 18C). Bark with amber colour and thickness of 37–155 Μm (average 74 Μm). Thick pith can be black or amber with thickness of 7 –35 Μm (average 19 Μm; Fig. 18D).
Distribution: Provisionally endemic from the northeastern Brazilian coast (Fig. 16 B). The type locality is the Abrolhos region, located in the southern limit of the northeastern Brazilian sector.
Ecology: The four collected specimens were photophilous, and always found on the upper part of rocks or coral heads. They were collected in depths that varied from 5 to 22 m.
Etymology: The name of this species is related to its resemblance to a lettuce (lactuca in Latin). Remarks: Other species which bear some resemblance to A. lactuca sp.n. are A. alcicornis sp.n., A. cristagallus sp.n. and A. solangeae sp.n. However, although they all possess a lamellar form, none of them have centrally anastomosed lamellas as seen in A. lactuca sp.n.
TABLE VIII: Spongin fibres’ measurement data for Aplysina lactuca sp.n. (in micrometers; S.D. = Standard Deviation and N=30).
Specimens Locality* Fibers Piths
Thinnest Mean Thickest S.D. Thinnest Mean Thickest S.D.
Holotype Abrolhos, BA 62.5 90.3 155.0 18.6 7.5 18.2 35.0 5.7
MNRJ 5477
Paratype Corumbau, BA 37.5 63.2 75.0 9.8 15.0 25.3 35.0 4.8
MNRJ 5276
Paratype Corumbau, BA 55.0 69.3 90.0 8.4 15.0 24.7 35.0 6.6
MNRJ 5278
* BA, Bahia State.
description: Published as part of Pinheiro, Ulisses Dos S., Hajdu, Eduardo & Custódio, Márcio R., 2007, Aplysina Nardo (Porifera, Verongida, Aplysinidae) from the Brazilian coast with description of eight new species, pp. 1-51 in Zootaxa 1609 on pages 33-35, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.178878