''Plakortis myrae'' 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
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...
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 two categories: large ones which are abundant (measuring 83–119
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), and rare small ones (measuring 67–71μm long) with S-shaped centres; triods which are Y- or T-shaped (measuring 18–5μm long), and possesses abundant microrhabds (measuring 5–12μm long).
References
Further reading
*Domingos, C. E. L. S. O., F. E. R. N. A. N. D. O. Moraes, and Guilherme Muricy. "Four new species of Plakinidae (Porifera: Homoscleromorpha) from Brazil." Zootaxa 3718.6 (2013): 530-544.
*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.
External links
*
Porifera Database
Homoscleromorpha
Animals described in 2014
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