A guide to the deep-water sponges of - NMFS Scientific Publications ...

128 Professional Paper NMFS 12
107. Haliclona (Gellius) digitata (Koltun, 1958)
Description. Koltun (1959) described this species as
“elongated, thinly tabular (foliate), or rolled up and intergrown
in such a manner that it acquires an irregular
shape … hollow dactylate projections….” Aleutian Island
specimens are typically stalked and flabellate. The
surface is smooth. The oscula are circular, chimney-like,
on top of oblique tubes. The consistency is only slightly
elastic and easy to tear. Size is to at least 15 cm in height
and width. Color in life is light brown to golden brown;
appears characteristically yellow in situ.
Skeletal structure. The choanosomal skeleton consists
of long polyspicular tracts connected by single spicules,
oxeas (320–370 × 12–18 µm), and thin sigmas (18–
25 µm).
Zoogeographic distribution. Uncommon. In Alaska
– central Aleutian Islands. Elsewhere – North Pacific
Ocean (Sea of Okhotsk near the Pacific coast of the
southern Kuril Islands).
Habitat. In Alaska – attached to bedrock, boulders,
cobbles, and pebbles at depths between 96 and
258 m. Elsewhere – found on sand and gravel at depths
between 285 and 287 m and at a temperature of 1.7°C.
Photo. 1) Specimen collected at a depth of 155 m in
the central Aleutian Islands. Grid marks are 1 cm 2 .