[A]
Tylostyles to 1500 μm. No Styles. Oxeas to 920 μm. NO centrotylote Oxeas. |
| Desmoxyidae ? Genus sp. A
Green & Bakus, 1994 |
Sponge:
Encrusting.
Consistency: firm, cartilaginous.
Surface: superficially smooth but granular from sand in dermal membrane and acanthoxeas below.
Color: White, ?Alive.
Spicules: Megascleres:
(1) Tylostyles:
192 -213- 244 um.
x 10 -11- 13 um.
(2) Tylostyles:
1000 -1300- 1500 um.
x 5 -12- 18 um.
(3) Oxeas:
600 -755- 920 um.
x 8 -9- 10 um.
Microscleres:
(1) Acanthoxeas:
104 -121- 148 um.
x 5 -7- 10 um.
Skeleton:
Ectosome with thick dermal membrane, which includes sand grains but no Acanthoxeas.
Choanosome, with densely packed Acanthoxeas. Also contains irregularly spaced tracts of smooth Oxeas and Tylostyles, 3- 6 spicules thick from bottom of sponge to dermal membrane.
Distribution: Santa Maria Basin, Southern California.
Depth: Deep water, 54 - 100 m.
Note: Specimens were thin fragments. Note also that in a recent paper, Van Soest & Hooper, 2005 proposed to rename Desmoxyidae to Heteroxyidae.
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[B]
Styles-Tylostyles to > 1500 μm. Oxeas to > 920 μm. Centrotylote Oxeas present.
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| Higginsia sp.
Klontz, 1989 |
Sponge:
Thinly encrusting to 5 mm thick.
Surface: superficially smooth, may be ridged (these formed by spicule bundles angled to the surface) or rugose.
Color: Alive: Pale buff, tan. Preserved: Drab.
Spicules: Megascleres:
(1)Tylostyles:
1163 -1951- 2848- 3357 um.
(2) Styles (rarely subtylostyles) heads bent:
897 -1001-1634- 1879 um.
(3) Oxeas:
473 -760-868- 1818 um.
Microscleres:
(1)Centrotylote Oxeas:
36 -52-69- 96 um.
(2)Acanthoxeas:
48 -74-82- 109 um.
Skeleton:
Ectosome: Dermal membrane, often with sand grains. Covers a dense layer of small Oxeas and Acanthoxeas.
Choanosome: Basal membrane with Tylostyle heads embedded, from which arise multispicular style tracts, 160-200 μm thick, reaching to near surface. Long Oxeas form spicule brushes at surface. Small Oxeas and Acanthoxeas scattered in choanosome.
Distribution: Central California.
Depth: Intertidal, one specimen from 379 m.
Note: Similar to H.? higginissima Dickenson,1945, also in thesis of Ristau, 1977. *In one specimen, Styles replaced by Subtylostyles.
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