Scopalina cribrosa Bertolino & Costa & Bavestrello & Pansini & Daneri 2020, sp. nov.

Scopalina cribrosa Bertolino, Costa & Pansini sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 2C1EE9CB-2950-4449-AD77-D32D9A781E9C

Fig. 13; Table 7

The new species is named after the cribrose surface of the sponge.

Holotype

CHILE – Puerto Cisnes • Jacaf Canal N; 44.271194° S, 73.209222° W; depth 20 m; 5–10 Aug. 2016; Marco Bertolino leg.; on a rocky slope by scuba diving; CILE 32; MSGN 61498.

HABITUS. Encrusting sponge 5 mm thick and 10 cm long (Fig. 13A). Surface slightly conulose with visible oscula, ostia and canal network. Slightly hispid. Colour in life reddish orange (Fig. 13A). Consistency soft.

SKELETON. Choanosomal skeleton consisting of bundles of thin styles entirely enclosed in spongin. Dendritic fibres rising up from basal spongin plate. Low spicular density.

SPICULES. Megascleres: Smooth styles, bent near the head, ending with tip not pointed but almost rounded (Fig. 13 B–C), 520–(1616.15)–2091 μm long and 2.5–(23.25)–32.5 μm thick.

Species lives at a depth of 20 m, on a rocky slope covered by coralline algae.

From five species of the Scopalina genus known in the Southern Hemisphere (Table 7), only Scopalina bunkeri Goodwin, Jones, Neely & Brickle, 2011 has been recorded from Chilean coast by Bertolino et al. (2019). The new species differs from S. bunkeri in having a very spiky surface and by the presence of smaller styles (Table 7). Scopalina cribrosa sp. nov. differs from S. australiensis (Pulitzer-Finali, 1982) from Eastern Australia in its external morphology, having an erect habit, large body and spicule size, but much smaller styles (Table 7). Scopalina cribrosa sp. nov. differs from S. erubescens Goodwin, Jones, Neely & Brickle, 2011 from the Falklands / Malvinas in its pale pink colour, a conulose surface, and styles that are four times shorter than those of S. erubescens (Table 7). Scopalina cribrosa sp. nov. differs from S. hapalia (Hooper, Cook, Hobbs & Kennedy, 1997) from Australia both in the colour and the presence of strongyles, which are lacking in the new species. Finally, regarding species of the Southern Hemisphere, S. cribrosa sp. nov. differs from S. incrustans (Lendenfeld, 1887) from Australia by its larger styles. The nine species of Scopalina reported from the Northern Hemisphere differ from S. cribrosa in the size of spicules, and often in their shape (Table 7). We, therefore, propose that Scopalina cribrosa sp. nov. should be considered as a species new to science.