Correcting sponge names: nomenclatural update of lower taxa level Porifera Author Van Soest, Rob W. M. text Zootaxa 2024 2024-01-09 5398 1 1 122 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5398.1.1 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.5398.1.1 1175-5334 10494167 E233F731-D5FA-4032-B3A4-CEFE5A809C49 Thenea grayi var. lateralis Thiele, 1898 ( Fig. 6N ) Thenea grayi var. lateralis Thiele, 1898: 28 , pl. V figs. 4–4a. The variety was described by Thiele from Sagami Bay, near Enoshima (D̂derlein’s Map no. 16), approximate coordinates 35.25°N 138.55°E ( holotype ZMB 4888). In his 1898 Japan paper Thiele described a large number of Thenea species , in a format that gave first the shared characters he observed collectively in the Japanese Thenea species , and subsequently with the individual species he only emphasized the unique characters. The species T. grayi Sollas (1886: 183 , cf. also Sollas, 1888: 65 , pl. VI figs. 21–22, originally reported from off Sydney, South East Australia , Challenger Exped. Stat. 164c, 34.3167°S 151.5167°E , depth 732 m , three syntypes BMNH 1889.1.1.26, cf. Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: 437 ) was also reported from Japan by Thiele from a locality in Sagami Bay, near Enoshima (D̂derlein’s [(1883): Map no. 14, approximate coordinates 35.2°N 139° 54°E ], close to that of the present variety. There are no spicular differences between T. grayi sensu Thiele, 1898 including the var. lateralis and the typical variety, but there is a distinct difference in shape. Because such differences are not uncommon in Thenea species , I propose to merge the two Japanese varieties of T. grayi with the species Thenea grayi Sollas, 1886 .