Cliona tumula sp. nov., a conspicuous, massive Symbiodinium-bearing clionaid from the lower Florida Keys (USA)(Demospongiae: Hadromerida: Clionaidae)

Abstract

Cliona tumula sp. nov. is described from the Florida Keys, Florida, USA. The new species is compared to representative Cliona spp. from the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. Cliona tumula sp. nov. is a massive, mound-shaped zooxanthellate clionaid with a central, apical cluster of numerous oscula, slender tylostyles with variable heads and abundant, delicate spirasters with compound spines that can be concentrated at the ends, which in this species can appear as mushroom-like caps, with a skeleton in typical clionaid arrangement. It is distinguished from congeners by its epibenthic growth form that extends for 20-40 cm above the substratum, centrally located concentration of oscula, and calcareous fragments obtained from surrounding sediment that C. tumula sp. nov. incorporates in tracts that run through the choanosome perpendicular to the ectosome. This species can be locally abundant in the Florida Keys in patch reefs near sand flats, but may be restricted to the lower keys as it has not been observed on reefs to the east.

Using a thermistor flowmeter with attached video camera for monitoring sponge excurrent speed and oscular behaviour

“…This species contains phototrophic, intracellular symbionts ( Symbiodinium sp.) (Schönberg & Loh, 2005), and it can open and close its oscula (Schönberg, 2000), consistent with other Clionaids (e.g., Grant, 1826; Friday, Poppell & Hill, 2013, B Strehlow, pers. obs., 2012 Cliona viarians ).…”

Microbiome structure of ecologically important bioeroding sponges (family Clionaidae): the role of host phylogeny and environmental plasticity

“…different from the more diverse and even seawater community. Three of the species studied, Cliona varians, C. tumula and Cervicornia cuspidifera, harbor Symbiodinium, whereas C. delitrix is free of this dinoflagellate (Hill et al 2011;Friday et al 2013;Strehlow et al 2016).…”

Morphological and molecular systematics of the ‘Cliona viridiscomplex’ from south-eastern Brazil

“…The complex comprises an unknown number of species mostly distributed in warm waters and largely follows the distribution of coral reefs (Van Soest et al , 2015). Five or six species have previously been assigned to the C. viridis complex from the Tropical Western Atlantic: C. aprica, C. caribbaea Carter, 1882, C. tenuis Zea & Weil, 2003, C. tumula Friday et al , 2013 and C. varians (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (Zea & Weil, 2003; Escobar et al , 2012; Friday et al , 2013). Cliona varians is well known from the north-east and south-east coast of Brazil (Muricy et al , 2008; Hajdu et al , 2011).…”

“…Currently there are 77 accepted species in the genus Cliona (Van Soest et al , 2015). Cliona species are fairly well known from the Mediterranean Sea and neighbouring areas of the Eastern Atlantic (14 species: Von Lendenfeld, 1897; Rützler & Bromley, 1981; Topsent, 1932; Van Soest, 1993; Carballo et al ., 1994, 1997; Corriero & Scalera-Liaci, 1997; Rosell & Uriz, 2002; Corriero & Nonnis Marzano, 2006; Calcinai et al , 2011), Australia (15 species: Carter, 1886; Topsent, 1888, 1932; Hooper & Wiedenmayer, 1994; Schönberg, 2000a; Fromont et al , 2005; Schönberg et al ., 2006; Van Soest et al , 2015), and best-studied in the Tropical Western Atlantic, especially in the Caribbean region (24 accepted species: De Laubenfels, 1950; Pang, 1973; Rützler, 1974; Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864; Sollas, 1878; Carter, 1882; Topsent, 1888; Leidy, 1889; Van Soest, 1993; Holmes, 2000; Zea & Weil, 2003; Miloslavich et al ., 2010; Friday et al ., 2013; Van Soest et al , 2015), while subareas of the above and other regions are under-represented. Nine Cliona spp.…”