Rowella tubulosa Lopes & Klautau 2023, COMB. NOV.

ROWELLA TUBULOSA (DENDY, 1924) COMB.NOV.

(FIGS 26, 27; TABLE 14)

Synonyms and citations: Leucettusa tubulosa – Dendy, 1924: 476; Burton, 1963: 50; Kelly et al., 2009: 45; Kelly, 2018: 20.

Type specimen: One lectotype (BMNH 1923.10.1.2) and two paralectotypes (BMNH 1923.10.1.3-4).

Type locality: Near Three Kings Islands, New Zealand (34°24ʹ S, 172°06ʹ E). Three Kings–North Cape MEOW ecoregion.

Description: Sponge body tubular, cylindrical to vase-shaped and ramified at the base. The types are dark brown to black in the outer region because of the fixation with osmium tetroxide. Internally, the sponge is beige (Fig. 26A, B). Incompressible and rough to the touch. Outer surface smooth (Fig. 26C, D). Atrial surface hispid due to the apical actines of the tetractines (Fig. 26E). One osculum is present at the end of each tube. They are simple circular apertures or slits without membrane (Fig. 26B). The body wall is thick (Fig. 26C). The atrial cavity is spacious and the excurrent canals are evident. Aquiferous system leuconoid with spherical to subspherical choanocyte chambers (Fig. 26E). Granular cells are distributed all over the body, more frequently in the cortical and atrial surfaces (Fig. 26F).

Skeleton: Cortical skeleton well developed, although not as thick as the choanosome (Fig. 26C). It is comprised of several layers of tangential triactines and tetractines (Fig. 26 C-D). Choanosomal skeleton comprised of pygmy triactines and tetractines, mostly present around canals. Large cortical spicules can also be found in the choanosome (Fig. 26C). Pygmy spicules are also present in the atrium, lying tangentially, with tetractines being more abundant and projecting their apical actine into the atrial cavity (Fig. 26E–F).