DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES OF FIELDINGIA, ERECTION OF A NEW FAMILY FIELDINGIDAE AND A NEW ORDER FIELDINGIDA (PORIFERA; HEXACTINELLIDA; HEXASTEROPHORA)

Abstract

Re-investigation of Fieldingia collected in the Indonesian Archipelago and described by Schulze (1887) as F. lagettoides and discovery of new similar specimens from the South China Sea and South Central Pacific enable Schulze’s specimen to be confidently accepted as Fieldingia. A new species, F. valentini, and a new subspecies, F. valentini tizardi, are described. The presence of complete spicule sets allow settlement of the problems with both dictyonal framework construction and loose spicule specification of the poorly known genus. These data provide the basis for erection of the Fieldingidae, a new family with a single recent genus. Based on the unique construction of the dictyonal choanosomal and dermal skeletons together with some other characters of loose spicules, a new order Fieldingida is established.