Two new species of Haliclona (Demospongiae: Haplosclerida: Chalinidae) from north-eastern Brazilian coastal waters and oceanic islands

Two new species of Haliclona (Chalinidae, Haplosclerida) are described here from Brazilian oceanic islands and the coast of Ceara State. They derive from collections undertaken between 1999 and 2014, and materials are deposited in the Porifera collection of Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ). Haliclona (Halichoclona) insularis sp. nov. can be distinguished from other Haliclona spp. in the western Atlantic by the combination of surface with light to deep red colour intermixed with white to beige areas (occasionally completely beige), white to beige choanosome, small fistular outgrowths, fragile consistency and blunt oxeas (90-175 x 1-5 mu m) with irregular tips. Haliclona (Soestella) moraesi sp. nov. is the only western Atlantic species of Haliclona with the combination of thickly encrusting to cushion-shaped habit, purple or light pink colour, and a dense (sub)isotropic skeleton with rounded meshes, and without microscleres. Several attempts to amplify COI mtDNA and 28S C2-D2 rRNA for both species were unsuccessful, in spite of the initial successful extraction of genomic DNA. The number of Haliclona spp. known from the Brazilian coast is now 17. The long gap between species collection and formal description supports the concept of the taxonomic impediment, which is particularly marked in speciose taxa with little morphological disparity, as observed in Haplosclerida.

Automated summary

This study describes two new species of Haliclona from Brazilian oceanic islands and the coast of Ceara State. One species is characterized by a surface color of light to deep red intermixed with white to beige areas, a white to beige choanosome, small fistular outgrowths, and blunt oxeas. The other species is characterized by a thickly encrusting to cushion-shaped habit, purple or light pink color, and a dense skeleton without microscleres. Attempts to extract genetic material from both species were unsuccessful. The number of known Haliclona species from the Brazilian coast is now 17.