A 3D Innovative Approach Supporting the Description of Boring Sponges of the Precious Red Coral Corallium rubrum

The carbonatic scleraxis of Corallium rubrum (L.), commonly known as red coral, is often found infested by excavating sponges. These boring organisms produce galleries inside the compact axis coral in a variety shapes compromising integrity skeleton and reducing its commercial value. Three sponge species, already to bore into rubrum, have been identified colonies collected from Cape Verde Archipelago—Alectona millari (Carter, 1879); Dotona pulchella mediterranea (Rosell Uriz, 2002); Thoosa armata (Topsent, 1888)—together with new species belonging genus Alectona here described. SEM analysis provided evidence microerosion patterns these confirming presence radial scars overlapped concentric ones, T. armata. For first time, microcomputed tomography was employed obtain three-dimensional reconstructions excavations estimate eroded volume.