Morphological description (show/hide)
| Large vase-shaped, cup-shaped or simply lamellate growth forms, usually with large marginal opening, or sometimes nearly flattened completely against substrate, 80-170mm high, up to 350mm maximum marginal diameter. Usually attached to substrate by short stalk, up to 30mm high, 25mm diameter, or sometimes lamellae virtually attached to substrate directly with outgrowths of basal attachment. Lamellae relatively thick, lobate, 8-15mm wide excluding lateral projections. | | Live colouration typically mottled olive-brow | | Oscules very small, 0.5-2mm diameter, dispersed on tips of microconules or ridges on interior surface of cups, and subdermal canals visible below slightly translucent ectosome. | | Compressible, spongy consistency, difficult to tear, rough exterior texture. | | Surface features: External (exhalant) surface (usually underside of lamellae or exterior of cups) optically smooth, relatively even, with or without bumps, ridges and lateral growths. Internal (inhalant) surface relatively uneven, often with concentric striations and ridges, or with irregular bumps, lobate growths and depressions on lamellae walls, and typically with small digitate or lobate projections at centre of cup. Occurrence and development of surface outgrowths, on both interior and exterior surfaces of lamellae, highly variable. | | Choanosomal skeleton only slightly axially condensed, marginally differentiated into axial and extra-axial components. Axial region predominantly radial-plumose, less markedly plumo-reticulate, with skeletal lines mostly directed longitudinally through lamellae, but gradually ascending towards peripheral skeleton, extra-axial skeleton more-or-less radial-plumose, with multispicular ascending spongin fibres interconnected by paucispicular transverse fibres. Spongin fibres well formed but only very lightly invested with spongin, 75-110ï¾µm diameter. Fibre reticulation forms elongate oval to eliptical meshes, 85-350ï¾µm diameter, relatively similar in diameter between axial and extra-axial regions, choanocyte chambers relatively large, oval, 90-210ï¾µm diameter. Ascending fibres cored by multispicular tracts of larger choanosomal oxeas, whereas transverse fibres uncored or with uni- or paucispicular skeletal lines. Mesohyl matrix with moderate quantities of lightly pigmented collagenous spongin. Very thin, smaller oxeas, similar in length to those on surface skeleton, dispersed throughout mesohyl, suggesting that these spicules are merely juvenile forms of larger choanosomal oxeas. | | Ectosome microscopically hispid, with specialised skeleton. Subectosomal skeleton ascending, plumose, produced by pauci- or multispicular tracts of larger, choanosomal oxeas running at right angles to surface, overlayed by specialised ectosomal skeleton formed of tangential, multispicular brushes of smaller ectosomal oxeas. Specialised dermal skeleton markedly plumose, mostly orientated tangentially or paratangential to surface. | | Spicules: Choanosomal oxeas thick, slightly curved at centre, typically symmetrical, occasionally anisoxeote, with hastate-rounded or slightly pointed, usually very faintly stepped ends. Ectosomal oxeas thin, mostly straight, fusiform, with sharply pointed, rarely stepped ends.Holotype I: 263-318.8-357 x 6.5-14.4-21.7 II: 135-166.8-255 x 1.1-3.2-5.6Other specimens I: 190-293.1-356 x 6.1-12.5-18.6 II: 119-162.5-279 x 1.1-3.2-7.2 | | nil. |
|