Cladocroce caelum sp. nov. from the Brazilian coast; first record of the genus in the South Atlantic Author Santos, George Garcia Author Silva, Lícia Pires Da Author Alliz, Adélia Author Pinheiro, Ulisses text Zootaxa 2014 3847 2 297 300 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.3847.2.10 542dc9a8-251e-4567-872f-5ec8e8e45184 1175-5326 228553 24C656B4-CD4B-4303-AEA2-EDDEE6C39AFE Cladocroce caelum sp. nov. Holotype . UFPEPOR 1450, Enseada dos Corais Beach ( 8°19'23"S , 34°56'57"W ), Cabo de Santo Agostinho Municipality, Pernambuco State, Brazil , 1 m depth, col. U. Pinheiro and G. G. Santos, ( 26.XI.2012 ). Paratype . UFPEPOR 1628, Baía da Traição Municipality ( 6°41'19"S , 34°55'60"W ), Paraíba State, Brazil , 1 m depth, col. G. G. Santos, ( 07.XI.2013 ). Description ( Figure 1 ). Massive shape with tubular projections, partially fused in the base, large apical osculum ( 1.5–3 mm in diameter). The holotype is 3.4 cm high, 2.8 cm wide. Individual tubes are approximately 6 mm in diameter. Conulose surface, consistency is compressible and fragile. Color in life is sky blue, and after preservation it becomes beige ( Fig. 1 A, B). There is no special ectosomal skeleton but a tangential isotropic unispicular reticulation of oxeas forming tracts 38–80 µm in diameter ( Fig. 1 C). The choanosomal skeleton is thick, unispicular, interspersed by many choanosomal spaces and reinforced by pauci- to multispicular tracts 24–72 µm in diameter ( Fig. 1 D, E). Spongin is scarce, cementing the tracts and the nodes of the isotropic reticulation. Spicules are oxeas (holotype—67– 74.5 –80 / 3– 3.9 –5 Μm; paratype—62– 76.0 –86 / 2– 4.0 –5 Μm) sometimes slightly curved, smooth and with sharp tips ( Fig. 1 F). Distribution and ecology. Known from Northeastern of Brazil (Pernambuco and Paraíba States) in shallow water at 1 m depth. Etymology. Named caelum which means sky in latin. Remarks: Cladocroce caelum sp. nov. is the first record of the genus from the South Atlantic. This species is allocated to Cladocroce based on the presence of a choanosomal skeleton reinforced by multispicular primary tracts ( De Weerdt 2002 ). The new species differ from others of the genus by possessing the combination of massive-tubular shape, blue color and generally smaller oxeas (see Tab. 1 ). Among the Atlantic species it differs from C. fibrosa (Topsent, 1890) , based on its vase shaped, grey color and larger oxeas (600 / 18 Μm); C. osculosa Topsent, 1927 which is lamellate in growth form and has brown color; C. spathiformis Topsent, 1904 which is tubular and transparent, with larger oxeas (375 / 17 Μm). Furthermore, these three species are from deeper waters ( Tab. 1 ), whereas Cladocroce caelum sp. nov. was found in shallow water which is unusual for this genus. Three other species of Cladocroce are found in shallow water: Cladocroce burapha Putchakarn et al . (2004) from Thailand , C. reina Aguilar-Camacho & Carballo (2010) from Pacific East Mexico , and C. aculeata Pulitzer-Finali (1982) from the Great Barrier Reef. Cladocroce burapha is tubularramose and has two categories of oxeas; C. reina is thinly incrusting and may have a green color; and C. aculeata is tubular, cream color, and shows a great variety of strongyloid oxeas as well as oxeas with mucronate, hastate and asymmetrical tips. Cladocroce tubulosa Pulitzer-Finali (1993) from the Indian Ocean is also a shallow water sponge and has small oxeas within the range of those of C. caelum sp. nov . , but is a yellow tubular sponge. Table 1 summarises the basic details of the other eight species of Cladocroce , all of which are from deep waters and have longer oxeas than C. caelum sp. nov. TABLE 1: Comparative data of spicule size range, shape, color and provenance of valid species of Cladocroce Topsent, 1892 . Values are in micrometres (Μm), expressed as minimum–maximum, or minimum– mean –maximum length/width. References are numbered in parentheses and listed after the table.

Species Locality / Depth (m) Color	Shape	Spicules
Cladocroce caelum sp. Paraíba and Pernambuco Blue nov. State (Brazil)/ 1	Massive-tubular	Oxeas: 62– 75.2 –86 / 2– 3.8 –5
Cladocroce aculeata Queensland, Australia / Cream Pulitzer-Finali, 1982 1, 9 shallow water	Tubular	Oxeas: 120–160 / 4.6–8

Cladocroce attu Lehnert Alaska / 358 & Stone, 2013 2	Golden brown	Funnel	Oxeas: 158–183 / 14–16
Cladocroce burapha Thailand / 2–15 Putchakarn et al ., 2004 3,9	White or blue	Tubular-ramose	Oxeas a: 105–117 / 6 Oxeas b: 141–171 / 6–7.5
Cladocroce fibrosa Azores / 1300 (Topsent, 1890) 4,9	Grey	Vaseform	Oxeas: 600 / 18

Cladocroce gaussiana Antarctic Ocean / 350 (Hentschel, 1914) 5	Yellow Tubular	Oxeas: 230–285 Toxas: 80–180
Cladocroce incurvata New Caledonia / Levi & Levi, 1983 6 170–190	Ochre Lamellate	Oxeas: 180–200 / 8–10
Cladocroce Alaska / 185 infundibulum Lehnert & Stone, 2013 2	Golden brown to light Funnel brown	Oxeas: 232–281 / 19–23
Cladocroce kiska Alaska / 255 Lehnert & Stone, 2013 2	Golden Brown Flabellate	Oxeas: 252–343 / 10–18 sigmas: 17–25
Cladocroce osculosa Portugal / 310–749 Topsent, 1927 7	Brown Lamellate	Oxeas: 225 / 9
Cladocroce parenchyma Greenland / 2260 (Lundbeck, 1902) 2,8	Yellow Tubular	Oxeas: 238 / 9–12

Cladocroce reina Pacific East Mexico / 3 Green or sky blue Cushion or Oxeas: 130– 151.7 –175 / Aguilar-Camacho & thinly-encrusting 5– 6.6 –7.5 Carballo, 2010 9 Cladocroce spathiformis Azores / 1165 Transparent Tubular Oxeas: 375 / 17 Topsent, 1904 10

Cladocroce spatula Greenland / 100 Yellow (Lundbeck, 1902) 8	Lamellate	Oxeas: 190–220 / 10–12
Cladocroce tubulosa Mombasa (Kenya) / 16 Yellow Pulitzer-Finali, 1993 9,11	Tubular	Oxeas: 64–74 / 3.5
Cladocroce ventilabrum Behring Sea / 512 Brownish (Fristedt, 1887) 9, 12	Lamellate	Oxeas: 250

References: (1) Pulitzer-Finali (1982) ; (2) Lehnert & Stone (2013) ; (3) Putchakarn et al . (2004); (4) Topsent (1892) ; (5) Hentschel (1914) ; (6) Levi & Levi (1983) ; (7) Topsent (1927) ; (8) Lundbeck (1902) ; (9) Aguilar-Camacho & Carballo (2010) ; (10) Topsent (1904) ; (11) Pulitzer-Finali (1993) ; (12) Fristedt (1887) .