Two new species of Demospongiae are described for British Columbia and adjacent waters in the family Axinellidae, Auletta krautteri sp. n. and Dragmacidon kishinensis sp. n. They represent range extensions for both of these genera. Both are fairly commonly encountered, Auletta krautteri below diving depths (87 to at least 300 m) and Dragmacidon kishinensis in shallow water (intertidal to 30 m)....

Haliclona is one of the most species-rich genera among Demospongiae, but with only 11 species recorded for the Brazilian coast. Here we describe two new species of Haliclona collected by trawling at Sergipe State (Northeastern Brazil). Haliclona (Halichoclona) dura sp. nov. is distinguished by the combination of confused choanosome with dense reticulation, oxeas with stepped and mucronate point...

Integrative taxonomy provides a major approximation to species delimitation based on integration of different perspectives (e.g. morphology, biochemistry and DNA sequences). The aim of this study was to assess the relationships and boundaries among Eastern Pacific Aplysina species using morphological, biochemical and molecular data. For this, a collection of sponges of the genus Aplysina from t...

Several studies report temporal, geographical, and intra-individual variation in sponge metabolite yields. However, the internal and/or external factors that regulate the metabolite production remain poorly understood. Dysidea avara is a demosponge that produces sesquiterpenoids (avarol and derivatives) with interesting medical properties, which has prompted addressed studies to obtain enough a...

Two new species of the genera Phycopsis and Ciocalapata are described from the shallow waters off the Brazilian coast. This is the first record of Phycopsis in South Atlantic, with Phycopsis styloxeata sp. nov. being the only species of the genus that presents three categories of spicules: two of styles and one of oxeas. Ciocalapata, here represented by Ciocalapata minuspiculifera sp. nov., dis...

Clionaidae (Demospongiae, Hadromerida) receives a new definition by accepting Spheciospongia and massive species previously assigned to Spirastrella (Spirastrellidae). A recently described genus, Cervicornia (for Alcyonium cuspidiferum Lamarck) is included here and distinguished by its specialized incurrent fistules and endopsammic choanosomal pulp. Clionaopsis new name is suggested to replace ...

From an evolutionary point of view, sponges are ideal targets to study marine symbioses as they are the most ancient living metazoans and harbour highly diverse microbial communities. A recently discovered association between the sponge Hemimycale columella and an intracellular bacterium that generates large amounts of calcite spherules has prompted speculation on the possible role of intracell...

There are 22 species of Hamacantha registered from all over the world, and frequently from deep-waters, only two of which had previously been reported from the SW Atlantic. Here we describe a third species for this area, Hamacantha (H.) boomerang sp. nov., collected from deep-sea coral mounds at Campos Basin (off Rio de Janeiro state). We found oxeas 271-630 µm long, diancistras in three size c...

The composition of four recent siliceous marine sponge spicules was studied and compared. In particular, multinuclear (29Si, 13C, 31P) solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) allowed the characterization of both the mineral and organic constituents in a non-destructive manner. The silica network condensation was similar for all samples. The organic matter showed a similar pattern but varie...