Unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of Melonanchora Carter, 1874 and two new related genera (Myxillidae: Poecilosclerida) from the Okhotsk Sea
Sponges are amongst the most difficult benthic taxa to properly identify, which has led to a prevalence of cryptic species in several sponge genera, especially in those with simple skeletons. This is particularly true for sponges living in remote or hardly accessible environments, such as the deep-s...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:527e3c3e7719423b9900f51bd633a678 2024-01-07T09:45:47+01:00 Unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of Melonanchora Carter, 1874 and two new related genera (Myxillidae: Poecilosclerida) from the Okhotsk Sea Andreu Santín María-Jesús Uriz Javier Cristobo Joana R. Xavier Pilar Ríos 2021-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12515 https://doaj.org/article/527e3c3e7719423b9900f51bd633a678 EN eng PeerJ Inc. https://peerj.com/articles/12515.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/12515/ https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359 doi:10.7717/peerj.12515 2167-8359 https://doaj.org/article/527e3c3e7719423b9900f51bd633a678 PeerJ, Vol 9, p e12515 (2021) Porifera Melonanchora Deep-Sea Spicule evolution New species Atlanto-Mediterranean Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12515 2023-12-10T01:52:21Z Sponges are amongst the most difficult benthic taxa to properly identify, which has led to a prevalence of cryptic species in several sponge genera, especially in those with simple skeletons. This is particularly true for sponges living in remote or hardly accessible environments, such as the deep-sea, as the inaccessibility of their habitat and the lack of accurate descriptions usually leads to misclassifications. However, species can also remain hidden even when they belong to genera that have particularly characteristic features. In these cases, researchers inevitably pay attention to these peculiar features, sometimes disregarding small differences in the other “typical” spicules. The genus Melonanchora Carter, 1874, is among those well suited for a revision, as their representatives possess a unique type of spicule (spherancorae). After a thorough review of the material available for this genus from several institutions, four new species of Melonanchora, M. tumultuosa sp. nov., M. insulsa sp. nov., M. intermedia sp. nov. and M. maeli sp. nov. are formally described from different localities across the Atlanto-Mediterranean region. Additionally, all Melonanchora from the Okhotsk Sea and nearby areas are reassigned to other genera; Melonanchora kobjakovae is transferred to Myxilla (Burtonanchora) while two new genera, Hanstoreia gen. nov. and Arhythmata gen. nov. are created to accommodate Melonanchora globogilva and Melonanchora tetradedritifera, respectively. Hanstoreia gen. nov. is closest to Melonanchora, whereas Arhythmata gen. nov., is closer to Stelodoryx, which is most likely polyphyletic and in need of revision. Article in Journal/Newspaper okhotsk sea Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Okhotsk PeerJ 9 e12515 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Porifera Melonanchora Deep-Sea Spicule evolution New species Atlanto-Mediterranean Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
spellingShingle |
Porifera Melonanchora Deep-Sea Spicule evolution New species Atlanto-Mediterranean Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Andreu Santín María-Jesús Uriz Javier Cristobo Joana R. Xavier Pilar Ríos Unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of Melonanchora Carter, 1874 and two new related genera (Myxillidae: Poecilosclerida) from the Okhotsk Sea |
topic_facet |
Porifera Melonanchora Deep-Sea Spicule evolution New species Atlanto-Mediterranean Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
description |
Sponges are amongst the most difficult benthic taxa to properly identify, which has led to a prevalence of cryptic species in several sponge genera, especially in those with simple skeletons. This is particularly true for sponges living in remote or hardly accessible environments, such as the deep-sea, as the inaccessibility of their habitat and the lack of accurate descriptions usually leads to misclassifications. However, species can also remain hidden even when they belong to genera that have particularly characteristic features. In these cases, researchers inevitably pay attention to these peculiar features, sometimes disregarding small differences in the other “typical” spicules. The genus Melonanchora Carter, 1874, is among those well suited for a revision, as their representatives possess a unique type of spicule (spherancorae). After a thorough review of the material available for this genus from several institutions, four new species of Melonanchora, M. tumultuosa sp. nov., M. insulsa sp. nov., M. intermedia sp. nov. and M. maeli sp. nov. are formally described from different localities across the Atlanto-Mediterranean region. Additionally, all Melonanchora from the Okhotsk Sea and nearby areas are reassigned to other genera; Melonanchora kobjakovae is transferred to Myxilla (Burtonanchora) while two new genera, Hanstoreia gen. nov. and Arhythmata gen. nov. are created to accommodate Melonanchora globogilva and Melonanchora tetradedritifera, respectively. Hanstoreia gen. nov. is closest to Melonanchora, whereas Arhythmata gen. nov., is closer to Stelodoryx, which is most likely polyphyletic and in need of revision. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andreu Santín María-Jesús Uriz Javier Cristobo Joana R. Xavier Pilar Ríos |
author_facet |
Andreu Santín María-Jesús Uriz Javier Cristobo Joana R. Xavier Pilar Ríos |
author_sort |
Andreu Santín |
title |
Unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of Melonanchora Carter, 1874 and two new related genera (Myxillidae: Poecilosclerida) from the Okhotsk Sea |
title_short |
Unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of Melonanchora Carter, 1874 and two new related genera (Myxillidae: Poecilosclerida) from the Okhotsk Sea |
title_full |
Unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of Melonanchora Carter, 1874 and two new related genera (Myxillidae: Poecilosclerida) from the Okhotsk Sea |
title_fullStr |
Unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of Melonanchora Carter, 1874 and two new related genera (Myxillidae: Poecilosclerida) from the Okhotsk Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of Melonanchora Carter, 1874 and two new related genera (Myxillidae: Poecilosclerida) from the Okhotsk Sea |
title_sort |
unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of melonanchora carter, 1874 and two new related genera (myxillidae: poecilosclerida) from the okhotsk sea |
publisher |
PeerJ Inc. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12515 https://doaj.org/article/527e3c3e7719423b9900f51bd633a678 |
geographic |
Okhotsk |
geographic_facet |
Okhotsk |
genre |
okhotsk sea |
genre_facet |
okhotsk sea |
op_source |
PeerJ, Vol 9, p e12515 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://peerj.com/articles/12515.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/12515/ https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359 doi:10.7717/peerj.12515 2167-8359 https://doaj.org/article/527e3c3e7719423b9900f51bd633a678 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12515 |
container_title |
PeerJ |
container_volume |
9 |
container_start_page |
e12515 |
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1787427410341265408 |