New genus and species of lithistid demosponges from submarine caves in Nuku Hiva (Marquesas Islands) and Tahiti Iti (Society Islands), French Polynesia

The distribution of marine sponges in the tropical Southwest Pacific Ocean is largely unexplored despite the vital ecological role of sponges in coral reefs and their value as sources of metabolites for drug design. Several collection campaigns to the French Polynesian archipelagos (Society, Marquesas, Tuamotu, Gambier, and Austral) were conducted to assess the bio- and chemodiversity of the island groups. In the course of these scientific expeditions, more than 200 identified sponge specimens were acquired, for which we were able to assign 102 Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs). Based on these MOTUs, we assessed, in the largest analysis of its kind for this area to date, the sponge composition and faunistic overlaps of the marine province Southeast Polynesia with Marquesas and Central Polynesia. We also compared the sponge fauna of these Eastern Indo-Pacific provinces with marine provinces of the adjacent Central Indo-Pacific realm. Our findings corroborate that sponge faunal similarity within marine realms is higher than among realms, and follows the marine barriers to gene flow observed for other taxa. We detected high levels of provincial endemism for marine sponges, consistent with findings from other Indo-Pacific regions. At the level of province, geographical distance and ocean surface currents influence faunal similarity, and constitute the primary factors for the connectivity of sponge faunas between the disjunct and remote island groups in the tropical Southwest Pacific Ocean.

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Poriferans rift apart: molecular demosponge biodiversity in Central and French Polynesia and comparison with adjacent marine provinces of the Central Indo-Pacific

Galitz

Ekins

Folcher³

et al. 2023

Biodivers Conserv

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Cave-dwelling calcareous sponges (Porifera: Calcarea) from the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

Lopes,

Pérez,

Klautau

2024

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

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The Marquesas Islands harbour numerous underwater caves, with different geomorphologies and a rich diversity of invertebrates dominated by sponges. However, although calcareous sponges are known to be abundant in cryptic habitats, only one of the four species reported from Marquesas was found in caves. Hence, our objective was to study the diversity of cave-dwelling calcareous sponges from the Marquesas Islands. Sponges were collected in semi-dark or dark caves, most of them being lava tubes. Through morphological and molecular (ITS and C-LSU) tools, five species were identified, four of them new to science: Borojevia moana sp. nov., Bidderia watremezi sp. nov., Leucascus polynesiensis sp. nov., Leucandra cavernicola sp. nov., and Murrayona phanolepis. In general, sponge assemblages in caves are different from those on adjacent rocky shores. Indeed, in French Polynesia, Leucascus polynesiensis sp. nov. was the sole species found inside and outside caves. We found that M. phanolepis is a cave-dwelling and widespread species, which might represent a cryptic diversity. Besides, aliactine spicules could be a synapomorphy in the subclass Calcaronea. Even though the number of species for the region is still underestimated, it is noticeable that Marquesan caves seem to harbour a unique diversity of calcareous sponges.

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Two news species of Corallistidae (Porifera; Demospongiae; Tetractinellida) with a first record of Awhiowhio from the Atlantic

Kelly

Pinheiro

2023

Zootaxa

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In the present study, we describe two new species of Corallistidae from Brazil, comparing them to all valid species of the respective genera. Both are notable Porifera records, with the first specimen of Neophrissospongia Pisera and Lévi, 2002 registered for the Brazilian coast and the first specimen of Awhiowhio Kelly, 2007 registered for the Atlantic Ocean. The specimens were preserved in 80% ethanol and analyzed following classical procedure for Demospongiae, with dissociated spicule mounts, skeletal sections and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Neophrissospongia jorgeorum sp. nov. is differentiated from its congeners by the categories of spicules present, especially the lack of streptasters/amphiasters. Awhiowhio saci sp. nov. is characterized especially by the presence of spiraster-shaped microrhabds and microxeas.

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New genus and species of lithistid demosponges from submarine caves in Nuku Hiva (Marquesas Islands) and Tahiti Iti (Society Islands), French Polynesia

Cited by 4 publications

References 46 publications

Poriferans rift apart: molecular demosponge biodiversity in Central and French Polynesia and comparison with adjacent marine provinces of the Central Indo-Pacific

Poriferans rift apart: molecular demosponge biodiversity in Central and French Polynesia and comparison with adjacent marine provinces of the Central Indo-Pacific

Cave-dwelling calcareous sponges (Porifera: Calcarea) from the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia

Two news species of Corallistidae (Porifera; Demospongiae; Tetractinellida) with a first record of Awhiowhio from the Atlantic

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