New records of the rare calcareous sponge Paragrantia waguensis Hôzawa, 1940

By

Soest, R. W. M. van
Hoeksema, Bert W.
Reimer, James
Voogd, Nicole de

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2015

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

546

Pages

1-20

Subjects

apopylar spicules , Calcarea , Grantiidae , Japan , Leucosolenida , Porifera

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.546.6122

 

Abstract

Paragrantia waguensis Hôzawa is reported from coastal reefs of the island of Okinawa. This rare species was previously known only from Central Japan, Mie Prefecture. It has peculiar apopylar tetractine spicules, so far unique among Calcarea. We present in situ images of the species and a full description including SEM images of skeletal structure and spicule complement. The status of Paragrantia as a separate genus of the family Grantiidae distinct from Grantia Fleming is confirmed on the basis of a morphological and molecular comparison with the European type species of Grantia, G. compressa (Fabricius).