Drulia cristinae, new species of sponge from the rio Xingu, Amazonas Basin, Brazil (Porifera: Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida: Metaniidae Volkmer-Ribeiro, 1986)

• Published in: Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Vol. 166; no. 1; pp. 1 - 17
• Main Authors: Volkmer-Ribeiro, Cecília, Drago, Inés Ezcurra de, Machado, Vanessa de Souza, Sabaj, Mark Henry
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2017; Academy of Natural Sciences
• Subjects: continental sponges; deep benthos; endemism; Greater Amazonia
• ISSN: 0097-3157; 1938-5293
• DOI: 10.1635/053.166.0101

A recent survey of the aquatic fauna in the rio Xingu, Pará State, Brazil, revealed a new species ofDruliaGray 1867, an extraordinary genus of freshwater sponge endemic to South America.Drulia cristinae n. sp. is distinguished in part by having gemmoscleres typically with elliptical outline and outer face with small, central crest or irregular bulge (exceptionally nude), oscules set atop conical projections of skeleton, and microscleres minute, wholly nanospined amphioxea. A taxonomic key is presented for the six species now composing the restored and redefined genus Drulia:D. brownii, D. cristata,D. uruguayensis,D. conifera,D. ctenosclera andD. cristinae n. sp. Furthermore, the monotypic South American genusHoussayella is retained as valid in Spongillidae on the basis of sharing gemmoscleres with true birotulate pattern (i.e., symmetrical disks separated by short or long, spiny or smooth shaft).