New Latrunculiidae (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida) from the Agulhas ecoregion of temperate southern Africa Author Samaai, Toufiek 0000-0001-7269-293X Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries: Oceans and Coasts Research, Private Bag X 4390, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa. & tsamaai @ environment. gov. za; Toufiek. samaai @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7269 - 293 X & Department of Biodiversity and Conservation, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X 17, Bellville 7535, South Africa. & tsamaai @ environment. gov. za; Toufiek. samaai @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7269 - 293 X & Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X 3, Rondebosch, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa. & tsamaai @ environment. gov. za; Toufiek. samaai @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7269 - 293 X tsamaai@environment.gov.za Author Kelly, Michelle 0000-0001-9673-0056 Coasts and Oceans National Centre, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Ltd, Private Bag 99940, Newmarket, Auckland 1149, New Zealand. & michelle. kelly @ niwa. co. nz; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 9673 - 0056 michelle.kelly@niwa.co.nz Author Ngwakum, Benedicta 0000-0002-5216-6497 Centre for Ecological Genomics and Wildlife Conservation, Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa. & bngwakum @ yahoo. com; http: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 5216 - 6497 bngwakum@yahoo.com Author Payne, Robyn 0000-0001-6780-9312 Department of Biodiversity and Conservation, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X 17, Bellville 7535, South Africa. & tsamaai @ environment. gov. za; Toufiek. samaai @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7269 - 293 X tsamaai@environment.gov.za Author Teske, Peter R. 0000-0002-2838-7804 Centre for Ecological Genomics and Wildlife Conservation, Department of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa. & bngwakum @ yahoo. com; http: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 5216 - 6497 bngwakum@yahoo.com Author Janson, Liesl 0000-0002-4660-2707 Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries: Oceans and Coasts Research, Private Bag X 4390, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa. & tsamaai @ environment. gov. za; Toufiek. samaai @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7269 - 293 X tsamaai@environment.gov.za Author Kerwath, Sven 0000-0003-2751-5015 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X 3, Rondebosch, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa. & tsamaai @ environment. gov. za; Toufiek. samaai @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7269 - 293 X & Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries: Fisheries Research and Development, Private Bag X 2, Vlaeberg 8018, South Africa. & Department of Animal Sciences, Department of Genetics, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa. tsamaai@environment.gov.za Author Parker, Denham 0000-0001-7641-7804 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X 3, Rondebosch, 7701, Cape Town, South Africa. & tsamaai @ environment. gov. za; Toufiek. samaai @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7269 - 293 X & Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries: Fisheries Research and Development, Private Bag X 2, Vlaeberg 8018, South Africa. tsamaai@environment.gov.za Author Gibbons, Mark J. 0000-0002-8320-8151 Department of Biodiversity and Conservation, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X 17, Bellville 7535, South Africa. & tsamaai @ environment. gov. za; Toufiek. samaai @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0001 - 7269 - 293 X tsamaai@environment.gov.za text Zootaxa 2020 2020-12-22 4896 3 409 442 journal article 9189 10.11646/zootaxa.4896.3.4 ea76f076-28b0-4986-90c9-2e49b08bf46a 1175-5326 4390683 FD238C7C-E3F8-408B-9711-9A0BFFF69692 Tsitsikamma ( Clavicaulis subgen. nov.) michaeli Parker-Nance, 2019 ( Fig. 11 , Table 1 , 4 ) Type & locality (not examined). Holotype — SAIAB 207202 Evans Peak , Algoa Bay , Eastern Cape Province , - 33.84548 , 25.81663 , 30–34 m depth , 12 November 2015 . Material examined. SAMC-A090890, SAMC-A091441, SAMC-A090891, Evans Peak , 33.842° S , 25.816° E , Algoa Bay , Port Elizabeth , 30 m , collected by Rhodes University , May 2010 ; SAMC-A090893, Amathole region Stn 3813, Eastern Cape , 32.681° S , 28.458° E , 52–55 m , RV Ellen Khuzwayo , dredge, 26 Aug 2016 . Distribution. Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth and Amathole region off East London, Eastern Cape , South Africa . Diagnosis. Small olive-green, purse shaped sponge up to 5 cm high ( 2 cm stalk and 3 cm rounded head), surface crowded with small short tube-shaped oscula and numerous large stalked cauliflower porefields ( Fig. 11E ; see also fig. 4 in Parker-Nance et al . 2019). Sponge is fleshy and compressible in life, dark to olive green in life, olive to tan in preservative ( Fig. 11E ). The sponges were collected from a moderately rugged rocky bottom with patches of sand between rocks, from Evans Peak, Algoa Bay, South Africa , at 33– 38 m . Megascleres ( Tables 1 , 4 ) are hastate or blunt styles, centrally thickened; (1) 713 (537–935) × 21 (12–30) μm and (2) long slender styles 622 (439–769) × 9 (4–13) μm, with occasional short thick anisostrongyles. Microscleres ( Table 1 , 4 ; Fig. 11F ) are acanthose isospinodiscorhabds with three or four whorls, 38 (34–44) μm. The terminal whorls consist of a clearly larger manubrium and apical whorls. The acanthose tubercles are arranged in sets of two to four, radiating from the terminal ends. Skeletal architecture has no reinforced tracts. The ectosome is thick and encapsulates the choanosome forming a protected layer ( Fig. 11G ) (modified from Parker-Nance et al . 2019). The species occupies the same reef habitat as that of T . ( C. subgen. nov. ) pedunculata , at depths between 33– 38 m . The sponge is often encrusted by an unidentified species of Mycale ( Mycale ) . DNA sequence data. We sequenced partial COI of collected material from different localities; GenBank accession numbers: COI MK016478 – MK016479 . Remarks. This species was described by Parker-Nance et al . (2019). For further details on the species and for comparative purposes with other Tsitsikamma species see Parker-Nance et al . (2019). There was no intraspecific genetic diversity for the COI gene sequences for specimens of T . ( C . subgen. nov. ) michaeli and no interspecific genetic diversity for T . ( C . subgen. nov. ) michaeli , T. ( T .) favus and the other specimens. Parker-Nance et al . (2019) also found no intraspecific genetic diversity for the 28S rRNA gene region for T. ( C. subgen. nov. ) michaeli and no interspecific genetic diversity for T. ( C . subgen. nov. ) michaeli and T. ( C . subgen. nov. ) pedunculata was observed in this work. They did however find interspecific genetic diversity of between 0.48–0.65 % between T. ( C . subgen. nov. ) michaeli and T. ( T .) favus and 0.32 % between T. ( C . subgen. nov. ) michaeli and T. ( T .) scurra . The latter finding further strengthen the subgenera divisions.