Latrunculia bellae Samaai, Gibbons, Kelly & Davies-Coleman, 2003, sp. nov.

Latrunculia bellae sp. nov. (Figs. 3 C, 4D, 5D)

Holotype material. BMNH 2003.1.10.1: Algoa Bay, Ryi Banks, 8 nm east of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 33° 59' 32"S, 25° 51' 93"E, collected by Dr Patrick L. Colin, Coral Reef Research Foundation, 12 October 1998, 22 m (0 CDN 6177­X).

Paratype material. SAM H­ 4963 Algoa Bay, Ryi Banks, 8 nm east of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 33° 59' 32"S, 25° 51' 93"E, collected by Dr Patrick L. Colin, Coral Reef Research Foundation, 23 February 1999, 20 m (0 CDN 6428­V).

Description. Encrusting sponge, 5 mm thick, inflated to 10 mm in situ (Fig. 3 C). Surface slightly felty to the touch, crowded with conical volcano­shaped oscules, 1 mm wide, 0.2 mm high, and numerous raised, thin­lipped crater­like areolate porefields of the same dimensions, with a poral membrane covering the opening. Texture compressible, resilient. Exterior colour in life emerald green with touches of brown, interior dark chocolate brown, in preservative dark chocolate brown. Underwater the sponge appears to be very dark grey.

Spicules. Megascleres— Styles: Smooth, hastate, centrally thickened, straight or slightly sinuous, 364 (319–400) x 12 m. Microscleres— Anisodiscorhabds (Fig. 4D): Manubrium with expanded spinose base, shaft 12 m long, 5 m wide. Median whorl 23 m diameter, subsidiary whorl is absent or reduced. Apical whorl, spines also reduced, slanting towards a short apical projection. All whorls are notched along rim and divided into four segments, each segment with denticulate margins; 46 (44–51) m.

Skeleton. The choanosomal skeleton forms an irregular polygonal reticulation formed by wispy tracts of smooth styles (Fig. 5 D). The tracts range in width from 91–182 m in thickness, and form meshes that are 227 m wide. Within the inner choanosome, tracts diverge towards the surface and are 230–250 m wide. Interstitial spicules are abundant. The ectosome has a palisade of densely packed interlocking anisodiscorhabds, which are absent from the surface structures. The paratangential layer beneath the palisade is approximately 318 m deep, and this extends into the oscular fistules.

Ecology. Moderately rugged rocky bottom, patches of sand between rocks, sponge encrusting rock substrate with a fine covering of sand, 10– 22 m.

Etymology. Named for Lori Bell Colin, Coral Reef Research Foundation, Micronesia, who has contributed enormously to our knowledge of South African Latrunculiidae through her collections.

Remarks. Latrunculia bellae sp. nov. is unique amongst South African Latrunculiidae in that it is thinly encrusting, is emerald green in life, and the microsclere morphology is reduced. Whilst the New Zealand species L. procumbens Alvarez et al. (2002) is similar in that it is encrusting with tubular or shallow oscules and porefields, the species is khakigreen in life, and the microscleres are about half the size of those of L. bellae sp. nov. The subsidiary whorl of the anisodiscorhabd is absent or considerably reduced in L. bellae sp. nov., and the spines of the apical whorl are reduced and slanted upwards. A single short spine projects from the apex.