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

12 Professional Paper NMFS 12
1. Clathrina sp.
Description. Conical tubes have thin walls laid in
folds. Viewed with a hand-lens, the walls consist of a
mesh of tissue with many open inhalant pores, round
to oval, 300–600 µm in diameter. The osculum at the
top of the cone has no spicule crown. Consistency is
soft and elastic. Height of cones is to 3–5 cm; several
basally fused cones may cover larger areas. Color in life
is creamy white to pale yellow.
Skeletal structure. Triactines are arranged tangentially;
large triactines (50–150 × 7–10 µm/ray), small
triactines (20–30 × 3–6 µm/ray).
Zoogeographic distribution. Cosmopolitan. In Alaska
– central Aleutian Islands. Elsewhere – the genus Clathrina
presently contains 87 nominal species and has a
worldwide distribution.
Habitat. In Alaska – sometimes grows around and partially
encrusts the gorgonian Muriceides nigra at depths
near 119 m.
Remarks. The genus Clathrina was erected by Gray
(1867) and is in desperate need of revision at the species
level.
Photos. Fragment of Clathrina sp. collected in the central
Aleutian Islands at a depth of 119 m. Grid marks are
1 cm 2 . 2) The same specimen as in photo 1 (center) in
situ encrusting the gorgonian Muriceides nigra.