Haliclona (Gellius) rudis Topsent 1901

Haliclona (Gellius) rudis (Topsent, 1901)

(Fig. 21, Tab. 17)

Haliclona rudis (Topsent, 1901): Koltun 1964: 101, pl. 15, figs. 9, 10.

Synonymy:

Gellius rudis Topsent, 1901: 14, pl. 1, fig. 9, pl. 3, fig. 4, 1907: 77, pl. 3, fig. 2. Hentschel 1914: 130. Boury-Esnault & van Beveren 1982: 117–118, figs. 33h–k.

not Gellius rudis sensu Kirkpatrick, 1908: 45, pl. 17, figs 1, 1a, pl. 24, fig. 1a.

Material. 13 mainly fragmentary specimens from station 048-1 (SMF 11780, 11801, 11809, 11814, 11821, 11823, 11825, 11827, 11839–11841), 602.1 m, 70° 23.94' S, 8° 19.14' W, 12.01.2008.

Description. Observed specimens fragmentary, the actual number sampled unknown. Also the exact shape of living specimens not fully documented: Sponges massive (Fig. 21 A), growing upright on substrate, widening at the top with a thinner, slightly stalk-like subpart. The largest specimens about 8 cm high. Sponge very porous, with pores at the surface weakly covered by a denser epidermis. Inside with large cavities opening up to the oscules at the top of specimens. Up to three oscules present in large specimens, oscule diameter up to about 10 mm. Oscular edges very distinct, in some cases forming evaginations. Color in alcohol variable, ranging from dirty beige to brown.

Skeleton: Skeleton anisotropic (Fig. 21 B) with long primary fibres, about 5 spicules in thickness, running towards upper side of the sponge. These interconnected at right angles mainly by single oxeas; real secondary fibres rare. Epidermis a poorly organized reticulum. Microscleres free in the choanosome.

Spiculation (Tab. 17): Main spicules simple oxeas (Fig. 21 C), slightly bent in the middle, with sharp pointed ends. These 330 to 520 µm in length and 7.5 to 22.5 µm in width. The only microscleres c-shaped sigmas (Fig. 21 D) 20 to 57.5 µm in length and 10 to 27.5 µm in width.

Remarks. Koltun (1964) reported a variant of the species that has a dermal membrane made of radial oxea bundles. That is in contrast to the irregular tangential layer of oxeas present in our sponges. Nonetheless, we cannot decide on the status of these forms; our specimens however still correspond well with those described by Topsent (1901) and Koltun (1964).