PSAMMOBIONTIC CLIONAIDAE (DEMOSPONGIAE: HADROMERIDA) IN LAGOONS OF THE RYUKYU ISLANDS, SOUTHWESTERN JAPAN

Autores/as

  • YUJI ISE

Resumen

Cliona inconstans (Dendy, 1887) is reliably recorded from the Ryukyu Islands, southwestern Japan and redescribed. This sponge varies in shape from columnar to massive. At present we conclude that the sponge belongs to the genus Cliona. This species has variations in the number of spirasters, with some specimens totally lacking spirasters. Ridleia peleia de Laubenfels, 1954 lacks microscleres, but shares important characters with C. inconstans. Hence, it is found to be synonymous with C. inconstans. C. inconstans lives with most of its body buried in sandy sediments of lagoon, incorporating numerous calcareous particles in its tissue and eroding them. This is an effective strategy for living in an unconsolidated environment where hardly any other sessile animals live. The resulting erosion traces are observed and described for the first time for this species.

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Publicado

2018-05-23