''Plakortis edwardsi'' is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
sea sponge in the order
Homosclerophorida
Homosclerophorida is an order of marine sponges. It is the only order in the monotypic class Homoscleromorpha. The order is composed of two families: Plakinidae and Oscarellidae.
Taxonomy
Homoscleromorpha is phylogenetically well separated from ...
, first found in vertical walls of
reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...
caves at depths of about in the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
.
This species has diods of a single category, with thick and S-shaped centres (measuring 110 to 128
μm
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...
long); triods which are T-shaped (
actines measuring 28–59μm long). It is the only species of this genus exhibiting small diods (measuring 22–31μm long).
References
Further reading
*Willenz, P. "Five new species of Homoscleromorpha (Porifera) from the Caribbean Sea and re-description of Plakina jamaicensis." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2 (2014).
*Domingos, Celso, Anaíra Lage, and Guilherme Muricy. "Overview of the biodiversity and distribution of the Class Homoscleromorpha in the Tropical Western Atlantic." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom: 1-11.
*Cruz‐Barraza, José Antonio, Cristina Vega, and José Luis Carballo. "Taxonomy of family Plakinidae (Porifera: Homoscleromorpha) from eastern Pacific coral reefs, through morphology and cox1 and cob mtDNA data." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 171.2 (2014): 254–276.
External links
*
WORMS
Homoscleromorpha
Animals described in 2014
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