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Issue: Vol. 3131 No. 1: 15 Dec. 2011
Type: Articles
Published: 2011-12-15
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3131.1.3
Page range: 52–62
Abstract views: 57
PDF downloaded: 1

Cercicladia australis, a new carnivorous sponge with novel chelae from the Tasman Basin and the Argentine Patagonian Margin (Porifera, Cladorhizidae)

Instituto Español de Oceanografía. Centro Oceanográfico de Gijón, C/ Príncipe de Asturias 70 bis, 33212 Gijón, Asturias, Spain
National Centre for Aquatic Biodiversity & Biosecurity, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Ltd, Private Bag 99940, Auckland 1149, New Zealand
Aix-Marseille Université, Centre d’Océanologie de Marseille, 13007, Marseille, France CNRS, DIMAR, UMR 6540, 13007, Marseille, France
Porifera Cercicladia australis gen. nov. sp. nov. Macquarie Ridge southern New Zealand southern Atlantic new species

Abstract

Recent expeditions around New Zealand have revealed a surprising diversity of carnivorous sponges (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida, Cladorhizidae). This is especially true for the Macquarie Ridge to the southwest of New Zealand, with high numbers of new species recently recorded. In this work we describe a new genus and species of Cladorhizidae Dendy, 1922 from the Macquarie Ridge, Cercicladia australis gen. nov. sp. nov., which has also, surprisingly, been found in the deep Atlantic off the coast of Patagonia. In addition to the mycalostyles and sigmancistras typical of Cladorhizidae, this presumably carnivorous species is characterized by the presence of toxas, microxeas, and a new type of spicule termed 'cercichelae' hereafter. The new genus Cercicladia gen. nov. has been named for these spicules, which resemble the shuttle-shaped chelae of Cercidochela lankesteri Kirkpatrick, 1907, now synonymised with Isodictya Bowerbank, 1864. The specimens from these disjunct locations are almost identical, except for the presence of acanthosubtylostyles in a few specimens from Patagonia.

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