Amphilectus fucorum

• Main Authors: Van Soest, Rob W. M., Beglinger, Elly J., de Voogd, Nicole J.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Porifera; Demospongiae; Poecilosclerida; Esperiopsidae; Amphilectus; Amphilectus fucorum; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/3858676; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3858676

Amphilectus cf. fucorum (Esper, 1794) Fig. 5 For synonymy, see Van Soest & Hajdu 2002b: 657. Material examined ZMA Por. 06775, Mauritania, off Banc d’Arguin, depth 100 m, bottom muddy sand, coll. R.W.M. Van Soest & J.J. Vermeulen, Mauritania II Exped. Stat. 072/14, 20.0°N 17.3°W, 2.4 m Agassiz trawl, 13 Jun. 1988. ZMA Por. 06796, Mauritania, off Banc d’Arguin, depth 48-52 m, bottom muddy sand with some calcareous gravel, coll. R.W.M. Van Soest & J.J. Vermeulen, Mauritania II Exped. Stat. 082/19, 19.9833°N 17.5°W, 3.5 m Agassiz trawl, 14 Jun. 1988. ZMA Por. 06843, Mauritania, off Banc d’Arguin, depth 95-100 m, bottom muddy sand with shells, coll. R.W.M. Van Soest & J.J. Vermeulen, Mauritania II Exped. Stat. 130/09, 20.4167°N 17.6667°W, 3.5 m Agassiz trawl, 20 Jun. 1988. Description The material consists of several fragments of encrusting to irregularly ramose sponges (Fig. 5A). Consistency, soft irregular surface, colour brownish alive and beige to whitish in alcohol. Size of individual fragments 2-3 cm. SKELETON. Irregularly plumoreticulate (Fig. 5B), with loosely defined spicule bundles connected by individual spicules, general aspect rather confused. Spicules barely protruding beyond the surface. Chelae clustered and singly occurring throughout the interior. SPICULES. Styles, palmate isochelae. STYLES. (Fig. 5C, C 1) Straight or slightly curved, relatively short and robust, 198- 237.6- 276 x 9- 11.4 - 14 µm. PALMATE ISOCHELAE. (Fig. 5D) Of ‘normal’ shape, but like in A. utriculus sp. nov., the shaft is slightly incurved. 19- 23.6 - 27 µm. Distribution and ecology Mauritania, off Banc d’Arguin (Fig. 1, loc. 2), on muddy bottom below 50 m. Elsewhere, if identification is correct, along most of the coasts of Europe, including the Western Mediterranean. This is the southernmost record of the species if Southern Ocean records (see below) are considered not conspecific. Remarks By assigning these specimens to A. fucorum, the range of this species, which was already huge, is further extended along the ...