Reniera palmata var. taurica Czerniavsky 1880

Reniera palmata var. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880

(Fig. 4K)

Reniera palmata var. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880: 120, pl. I (V) fig. 1.

Somewhat in contrast to Czerniavsky’s text, I assume he meant the species palmata to be sensu Lieberķhn 1859 (= R. palmata Schmidt, 1862: 74), and not sensu Ellis & Solander (1786: 186). Regarding the name Reniera palmata (sensu Lieberķhn 1859) the following consideration is here made: the Mediterranean name palmata is a misapplication by Lieberķhn of Spongia palmata Ellis & Solander, 1786 (a North Atlantic species currently accepted as Isodictya palmata). Johnston (1842) used the combination Halichondria palmata for Isodictya palmata, and this was also used by Lieberķhn, but this time for a different species from the Adriatic Sea. Schmidt (1862: 74) assigned Lieberķhn’s misapplication to his genus Reniera (currently a junior name for Haliclona Grant, 1841) and his Reniera palmata is in fact a new combination (as Schmidt indeed asserted himself by using ‘nobis’ for the authorship and questioning the authorship of Ellis & Solander). Because the homonymic Halichondria palmata sensu Johnston and Halichondria palmata sensu Lieberk ̧hn are not currently in the same genus (Isodictya viz. Haliclona), Haliclona palmata is here assigned to the authorship of Schmidt, 1862 (allowed under ICZN art. 59.3). The species Haliclona palmata was reported from the Black Sea by Czerniavsky (1880) as Reniera, by Borcea (1937), Arndt (1947: 6) and Gomoiu (1963: 349) as Adocia, and by Ereskovsky et al. (2016) as Haliclona. The species name remains largely unused in the current Mediterranean sponge literature. Griessinger (1971: 162 as Adocia) dubiously referred a specimen from the Strassbourg Museum labeled ‘ Reniera palmata Schmidt? Naples’ to the species, complaining about the insufficient description by Schmidt. This Naples specimen was presumably identified by Topsent, because Topsent (1925a: 721) mentioned the name in his list of Naples sponges, but did not describe it. Burton (1930a), discussing the species assigned to the genus Reniera, stated that Schmidt’s species Reniera palmata “almost certainly belongs to Reniera cinerea (Grant, 1826) ”, on the basis of “a spicule-preparation purchased from Schmidt” and “some twenty specimens of this species from the Adriatic”. De Weerdt (1986, 1989) failed to mention the species name R. palmata in her account of the many specimens and species she assigned to Haliclona cinerea (De Weerdt, 1987: thesis p. 140–155). None of the more recent authors mentioned or described Haliclona material under the combination Haliclona palmata. Nevertheless, there are several original specimens from the Adriatic identified by Schmidt in the Graz collection (LMJG nrs. 15324–25, 15332–33, 15631–32), see Desqueyroux-Faúndez & Stone 1992: pl. XXXIII figs. 197–202), so a re-evaluation of the species is possible and urgent.

The variety was described by Czerniavsky from the Sinus Jaltenis, Crimea, approximate coordinates 44.48°N 34.17°E, depth 10–12 m (no type material identified). The present junior secondary homonym of Protoschmidtia simplex f. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880 is proposed above to be replaced by the combination Haliclona palmata subsp. pontuseuxiniensis nom.nov., possibly valid as a Black Sea subspecies of the ill-known Haliclona palmata Schmidt, 1868.