Geographic range extensions of stalked, flabelliform sponges (Porifera) from eastern Canada with a new combination of a species of Plicatellopsis in the North Atlantic

Sponges (phylum Porifera) possess biochemical, cellular, and physiological traits with valuable biotechnical applications. However, our ability to harness these natural innovations is limited by a classification system that does not fully reflect their evolutionary history. In this study, we uncover numerous cryptic species within the genus Halichondria that are morphologically indistinguishable from the well-known H. panicea. Many of these species have habitat preferences and geographic distributions that strongly suggest they have been dispersed by human activity. Most of these species are broadly sympatric with their closest relatives, and these overlapping distributions allow us to use patterns of DNA variation to infer reproductive isolation between clades in nature. With reproductively isolated species thus delineated, we can use DNA states as taxonomic characters to formally describe them. Though much remains to be learned about these newly discovered species, the natural "common gardens" of introduced sponges in California, New York, and other locations provide opportunities to test hypotheses about their diversification in future work.

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Two new species of encrusting sponge (Porifera, family Crellidae) from eastern Canada

Goodwin

Dinn

Nefedova

et al. 2021

Can. J. Zool.

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Two new species of Crellidae Dendy, 1922 from the east coast of Canada are described. The first is Crella (Pytheas) cutis sp. nov., a massively encrusting species of Crella (Pytheas) collected from depths of 84 to 249 m in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the Scotian Shelf. The second is Crellomima mehqisinpekonuta sp. nov., a thinly encrusting sponge found at diving depths in the Bay of Fundy. We also report the first records of Crellomima derma Hentschel, 1929 from outside the type locality (Barents Sea). All known species of Crellomima are reviewed based on type material.

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Geographic range extensions of stalked, flabelliform sponges (Porifera) from eastern Canada with a new combination of a species of Plicatellopsis in the North Atlantic

Cited by 776 publications

References 28 publications

Sponge communities in the eastern Canadian Arctic: species richness, diversity and density determined using targeted benthic sampling and underwater video analysis

Sponge communities in the eastern Canadian Arctic: species richness, diversity and density determined using targeted benthic sampling and underwater video analysis

A common garden ofHalichondriasponges: taxonomic revision of Northeast Pacific Halichondriidae reveals many cryptic introduced species

Two new species of encrusting sponge (Porifera, family Crellidae) from eastern Canada

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