Cladorhiza corallophila Göcke, Hestetun, Uhlir, Freiwald, Beuck & Janussen, 2016, sp. nov.

• Main Authors: Göcke, Christian, Hestetun, Jon T., Uhlir, Carolin, Freiwald, André, Beuck, Lydia, Janussen, Dorte
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Porifera; Demospongiae; Poecilosclerida; Cladorhizidae; Cladorhiza; Cladorhiza corallophila; Arctic; Norway; Lophelia pertusa
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/5631045; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5631045

Cladorhiza corallophila sp. nov. Diagnosis. Cladorhiza of straight upright growth without roots, with surface filaments being rounded in life, attached to skeleton of live or occasionally dead cold-water corals. Material. 3 specimens (SMF11490 holotype, SMF11491, GenBank nr. KU508388/391/394, SMF 11492, GenBank nr. KU508387/390/393) on live Lophelia pertusa, sta. GeoB 14914-1-3, ROV dive 12 17°08.196'N, 16°49.466'W, 17 November 2010, 512 m water depth, Tiguent Mound Complex, two of which consist of several coalesced individuals, attached to dead framework portions of a live Lophelia pertusa colony, originally inhabited by amphipods. One separate specimen (SMF11489) and approximately five individuals on one live Lophelia pertusa colony (SaM-ID 1 430, GenBank nr. KU508386/389/392), Timiris Mound Complex, sta. GeoB 14873-1-5, ROV dive 5, 18°57.765'N, 16°52.151'W, 10 November 2010, 485 m water depth, basal portions of sponge inside coral skeleton (coral overgrowth), co-occurring with gastropod Calliostoma grazing on Lophelia pertusa, sponges in live often inhabited by amphipods. Several dried fragmentary specimens (SMF 11410) from sta. GeoB 14902-1- 9, ROV dive 9, 17°32.848’N 16°39.703’W, 407 m water depth, Tamxat Mound Complex. Additional material used for comparison: Cladorhiza abyssicola Sars, 1872: BMNH [19]34.2.16.14 labelled “ Norway, From Oslo Museum, Challenger-Collection ”, BMNH 1910.1.1.1372 labelled “ Norwegian Arctic Expedition 1876-8, Dr. A. Hansen, “ Type ”. Cladorhiza gelida Lundbeck, 1905: ZMUC-DEM-31 (Syntype), Ingolf station 113, 69°31’N, 7°06’W, 1896, 2465 m. Description. The species is always found growing on cold-water corals of the species Lophelia pertusa or to a lesser degree on Madrepora oculata (Fig. 2). The sponge grows predominantly erect upright into the water column and reaches a height of at least 10 cm. It can be locally very abundant. The sponges grow upright with a continuous middle axis with a diameter of about 2 mm from which lateral processes emerge. These processes are only very ...