Leucetta floridana
Creators: name: Klautau, Michelle
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Porifera
Calcarea
Clathrinida
Leucettidae
Leucetta
Leucetta floridana

description: Leucetta floridana (Haeckel, 1872)
(Figs. 15 A–E; Table 16)
Synonyms. Leucaltis floridana Haeckel 1872: 144. Dyssycus floridanus Haeckel 1872: 144; Lipostomella floridana Haeckel 1872: 144. Amphoriscus floridanus Haeckel 1872: 144. Leucaltis pura Haeckel 1872: 144. Leucaltis impura Haeckel 1872: 144. Leucilla floridana Jenkin 1908: 453. Leucetta microraphis Tanita 1942: 111, Borojevic & Peixinho 1976: 1003. Leucetta floridana de Laubenfels 1950: 146, Moraes et al. 2006: 167, Muricy et al. 2008: 132, Valderrama et al. 2009: 9, Lanna et al. 2009: 7, Muricy et al. 2011: 36, RütZler et al. 2014: 102. Leucetta aff. floridana Lehnert & Van Soest 1998: 99.
Diagnosis. white or light blue Leucetta with two very different size categories of triactines and of tetractines.
Material examined (Eight specimens). Abrolhos Bank, Caravelas, Bahia State: MNRJ 4703, Parcel das Paredes, 8 m depth, coll. G. Muricy, 1997. Rocas Atoll, Rio Grande do Norte State: MNRJ 7630, 7725, off Barretinha, 12 m depth, coll. E. Hajdu, M. Oliveira and F. Moraes, 0 2 November 2003. MNRJ 7648, off Barretinha, 12 m depth, coll. E. Hajdu, M. Oliveira and F. Moraes, 0 1 November 2003. MNRJ 7672, off Barretinha, 12 m depth, coll. E. Hajdu, M. Oliveira and F. Moraes, 0 2 December 2003. Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Pernambuco State: MNRJ 8602, Ressurreta, 4 m depth, coll. F. Moraes, 0 6 August 2004. MNRJ 8609, Sela Gineta Island, 7 m depth, coll. F. Moraes, 0 9 August 2004. UFRJPOR 6480, 6481, Ressurreta, 7.3 m depth, coll. F. Azevedo and G. Rodriguez, 26 June 2011.
Colour. white to light blue in life and gray to light brown in ethanol.
Morphology. The body of this species is massive (Fig 15 A). The largest specimen collected was 50 x 25 x 30 mm. There is one or more apical oscula, rounded or elongated, without fringe, being approximately 0.5 to 15 mm long. Surface is very hispid due to the presence of huge triactines and tetractines visible to the naked eye (Fig 15 B). Consistency hard and friable. A large, hispid atrium is located below each osculum, to which a few rounded canals converge.
Anatomy. The aquiferous system is leuconoid. A cortical skeleton is composed of short triactines tangentially disposed. Immediately below this layer there are huge triactines and also some huge tetractines tangentially disposed. Both huge and short spicules are present in the choanosome. Canals are surrounded by sagittal short tetractines. Short tetractines are also present forming the atrial skeleton.
Spicules (Figure 15; Table 16). Triactines I: Regular to sagittal. Actines are conical and sharp (Fig 15 C).
Triactines II: Regular to sagittal. Actines are conical with sharp tips (Fig 15 D).
Tetractines I: Regular to sagittal. Actines are conical with sharp tips. The apical actine is conical, thinner and shorter than the basal actines, sharp, and smooth (Fig 15 E).
Tetractines II: Regular to sagittal. Actines are conical and sharp. The apical actine is conical, thinner and shorter than the basal ones. They can be very rare in some individuals or even absent.
Specimen Spicule Length (µm) Width (µm) n
min mean sd max min mean sd max
MNRJ 7725 Triactine I 112.2 141.6 17.5 194.7 13.2 17.2 2.5 26.4 30 Triactine II 305.8 1000.1 404.9 1698.3 34.8 137.4 56.0 233.1 30 Tetractine I 122.1 147.6 16.8 188.1 13.2 16.2 1.6 19.8 30 Tetractine II 264.1 461.0 260.7 1139.8 41.7 71.2 43.0 180.7 12
MNRJ 8609 Triactine I 105.0 158.2 47.9 306.9 13.5 20.1 8.5 46.2 30 Triactine II 347.5 679.7 277.2 1251.0 48.7 98.7 42.9 180.7 30 Tetractine I 114.0 145.1 19.1 195.0 10.5 14.2 2.2 18.0 28 Tetractine II 420.0 698.6 268.0 1139.8 60.0 109.1 45.4 180.7 0 5 Ecology. This species is found mainly in shaded habitats such as vertical walls, crevices and caves, from 4 to 90 m of depth. In the present study it was found from 7 to 12 m. No organism was recorded associated with this species.
Distribution. western Atlantic Ocean: U.S.A. (Florida), Bermuda, Colombia, Panama, Jamaica, Brazil (States of Pará, Maranhão, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, and Espírito Santo; and oceanic islands [Rocas Atoll, Fernando de Noronha]) (Haeckel 1872; Tanita 1942; de Laubenfels 1950; Borojevic & Peixinho 1976; Lehnert & Van Soest 1998; Muricy & Moraes 1998; Moraes et al. 2006; Muricy et al. 2008; Lanna et al. 2009; Valderrama et al. 2009; Moraes 2011; Muricy et al. 2011). There is a record of this species from wasin (East Africa; Jenkin 1908), but it needs confirmation.
Remarks. Leucetta floridana is a common and widely distributed species in the western Tropical Atlantic (Caribbean Province). It was synonymised with the Australian species L. microraphis but it is currently accepted as a valid species (Valderrama et al. 2009; Moraes 2011). Its main morphological characteristics are the external form and the presence of large triactines and tetractines associated with small triactines and tetractines. The large tetractines can be very rare or even absent in some specimens.
description: Published as part of Klautau, Michelle, 2017, Taxonomy and phylogeny of calcareous sponges (Porifera: Calcarea: Calcinea) from Brazilian mid-shelf and oceanic islands, pp. 301-344 in Zootaxa 4311 (3) on pages 333-336, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4311.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/847808