Aplysina insularis

Aplysina insularis (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) Tables 6, 7; Figs. 83A–B, 88H Synonymy and references: Luffaria insularis Duchassaing & Michelotti (1864: 61), and Muricy et al. (2011: 176); Aplysina fistularis f. fistularis: see references compiled in Pinheiro et al. (2007: 21), and Muricy et al. (2011: 176); Aplysina fistularis insularis: Green et al. (1986: 140), Aplysina insulares (misspelling), see references compiled in Muricy et al. (2011: 176); Aplysina insularis: Pinheiro et al. (2007: 21), Hajdu et al. (2011: 233), Muricy et al. (2011: 176) Rützler et al. (2009: 307), Pérez et al. (2017: 9), and Van Soest (2017: 209). Type locality. St. Thomas. Material examined. CNPGG-2255, Triangulo Oeste reef (20.95178°N, 92.30963°W), 23 m depth, coll. Oscar Bocardo, 09 September 2017; CNPGG-2268, Triangulo Oeste reef (20.96073°N, 92.30751°W), 19 m depth, coll. Oscar Bocardo, 10 September 2017. Distribution. Mexico (Green et al. 1986 as A. fistularis insularis, De la Cruz-Francisco & Bandala-Pérez 2016, current records), Bermuda, Bahamas, US (Florida), other countries in the Caribbean Sea, Brazil (Pinheiro et al. 2007). Remarks. Our specimens conform in all aspects to Aplysina insularis. The species with the closest morphology to Aplysina insularis is Aplysina muricyana Pinheiro, Hajdu & Custódio, 2007 from das Rocas atoll (off northeastern Brazil). Both consist of groups of short and anastomosed tubes with apical oscules up to 1 cm in diameter, and soft consistency. However, they differ in the contour of the tube, lobate, often widening toward their apices (somewhat infundibuliform) with fairly smooth surface in A. insularis, and tubes with a polygonal contour bearing edges extending longitudinally in A. muricyana. Color when alive, golden yellow or brown in A. insularis, turning black after preservation in ethanol. Beige in A. muricyana, but green, brown-beige and red tinges are also common, turning from beige to brown when preserved in ethanol.
Published as part of Ugalde, Diana, Fernandez, Julio C. C., Gómez, Patricia, Lôbo-Hajdu, Gisele & Simões, Nuno, 2021, An update on the diversity of marine sponges in the southern Gulf of Mexico coral reefs, pp. 1-112 in Zootaxa 5031 (1) on page 90, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5031.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5454380
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