Tropical Eastern Pacific Amphoriscidae Dendy, 1892 (Porifera: Calcarea: Calcaronea: Leucosolenida) from the Peruvian coast

Abstract

Two new species of Amphoriscidae Dendy, 1892 (Porifera Grant, 1836: Calcarea Bowerbank, 1862: Leucosolenida Hartman, 1958) from the northern coast of Peru, Tropical Eastern Pacific, are described integrating molecules and morphology. Leucilla mancoraensis sp. nov. is a tube-shaped sponge with apical osculum, sylleibid aquiferous system, and a skeleton composed of cortical triactines and giant tetractines, thick subatrial triactines, and atrial tetractines with short apical actines. Paraleucilla tarazonai sp. nov. is the first record of Paraleucilla Dendy, 1892 for the Eastern Pacific and presents a skeleton formed of cortical microdiactines, diactines, triactines, and tetractines, subatrial triactines, and atrial triactines and tetractines. These two species are provisionally endemic to the northern coast of Peru (Guayaquil ecoregion). Our phylogenetic analysis, which included the largest number of Amphoriscidae species, was congruent with previous studies. The family Amphoriscidae including an Amphoriscus Haeckel, 1870 species as well as the genera Leucilla Haeckel, 1872 and Paraleucilla were recovered as non-monophyletic groups. Despite being polyphyletic, information on species distribution of this family is relevant for diversity studies; consequently, we present the geographic distribution of each genus of Amphoriscidae.