Integrative taxonomic description of Plakina kanaky, a new polychromatic sponge species from New Caledonia (Porifera: Homoscleromorpha)

Four similar sponges of different colors, all unknown to science, were collected in submarine caves of New Caledonia. We aimed at determining whether the four chromotypes represented different species or phenotypic variations of a unique new species. We used an integrative taxonomic approach combini...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine ecology (Berlin, West) West), 2015-12, Vol.36 (4), p.1129-1143
Main Authors: Ruiz, César, Ivanišević, Julijana, Chevaldonné, Pierre, Ereskovsky, Alexander V, Boury‐Esnault, Nicole, Vacelet, Jean, Thomas, Olivier P, Pérez, Thierry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity and Ecology
Caves
color
Environmental Sciences
Homoscleromorpha
integrative taxonomy
Marine
Marine invertebrates
metabolomic fingerprinting
Metabolomics
Molecular chains
New species
Organic chemistry
paraphyly
Phenotypic variation
Phenotypic variations
Phylogeny
Physical characteristics
Plakina
Plakina trilopha
Plakinidae
Porifera
prokaryotic cells
skeleton
Symbionts
taxon descriptions
Taxonomy
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Summary:Four similar sponges of different colors, all unknown to science, were collected in submarine caves of New Caledonia. We aimed at determining whether the four chromotypes represented different species or phenotypic variations of a unique new species. We used an integrative taxonomic approach combining morphologic, molecular and metabolomic analyses. The main traits that define these specimens are a skeleton made of monolophose, trilophose and tetralophose calthrops only, high chemical diversity and a high abundance and diversity of prokaryotic symbionts. The symbiotic community includes two unique prokaryote morphotypes, which are described for the first time in Homoscleromorpha, and appeared to be vertically transmitted. Although several features slightly differ among chromotypes, the most parsimonious conclusion was to propose a single new species Plakina kanaky sp. nov. Our phylogenetic analysis indicated the paraphyly of the Plakina genus, with P. kanaky sp. nov. belonging to a clade that includes Plakina jani and Plakina trilopha. The present work demonstrates that integrative taxonomy should be used in order to revise the entire Plakinidae family and especially the non‐monophyletic genus Plakina.
ISSN:0173-9565
1439-0485
DOI:10.1111/maec.12209