Integrative taxonomic description of Plakina kanaky, a new polychromatic sponge species from New Caledonia (Porifera: Homoscleromorpha)

Abstract

Four similar sponges of different colors, all unknown to science, were collected in submarine caves of New Caledonia. We aimed at determining whether the four chromotypes represented different species or phenotypic variations of a unique new species. We used an integrative taxonomic approach combining morphologic, molecular and metabolomic analyses. The main traits that define these specimens are a skeleton made of monolophose, trilophose and tetralophose calthrops only, high chemical diversity and a high abundance and diversity of prokaryotic symbionts. The symbiotic community includes two unique prokaryote morphotypes, which are described for the first time in Homoscleromorpha, and appeared to be vertically transmitted. Although several features slightly differ among chromotypes, the most parsimonious conclusion was to propose a single new species Plakina kanaky sp. nov. Our phylogenetic analysis indicated the paraphyly of the Plakina genus, with P. kanaky sp. nov. belonging to a clade that includes Plakina jani and Plakina trilopha. The present work demonstrates that integrative taxonomy should be used in order to revise the entire Plakinidae family and especially the non‐monophyletic genus Plakina.

Description of the first Caribbean Oscarellidae (Porifera: Homoscleromorpha)

“…DNA analyses. For the molecular taxonomy study, we chose CO1 markers which had proved reliable in differentiating closely related species among Homoscleromorpha in previous works (see for instance Pérez et al 2011;Boury-Esnault et al 2013, Ruiz et al 2015, 2017. DNA extractions were performed from small sponge fragments (2 cm 3 ) using QIAamp DNA Mini Kit (QIAGEN).…”

Overview of the biodiversity and distribution of the Class Homoscleromorpha in the Tropical Western Atlantic

“…More objective, integrative taxonomic approaches (e.g. Boury-Esnault et al ., 2013; Cruz-Barraza et al ., 2014; Ereskovsky et al ., 2014; Ruiz et al ., 2014), and increasing sampling efforts in poorly explored areas such as the Guianas and Abrolhos Reefs will help to make more precise estimations of the biodiversity and biogeography of Homoscleromorpha. The exploration of submarine caves and other sciaphilic habitats should also lead to a large number of species discovered, since most species of Oscarella, Plakina and Corticium are highly sciaphilic (Solé Cava et al ., 1992; Muricy et al ., 1996, 1998; Ereskovsky et al ., 2009b; Gerovasileiou & Voultsiadou, 2012).…”

Composition and diversity of prokaryotic communities sampled from sponges and soft corals in Maldivian waters

“…splendens sampled in Mayotte and Taiwan found it to have a LMAtype prokaryotic community with dominant members assigned to the Proteobacteria and Tectomicrobia de Voogd et al, 2019). Tectomicrobial symbionts of marine sponges have been implicated in the production of natural products with biotechnological potential (Freeman et al, 2016 (Ruiz et al, 2015(Ruiz et al, , 2020.…”