Axinellida (Porifera : Demospongiae) from the New Caledonia lagoon

Abstract

Sixteen species of axinellid demosponges, including seven new species and seven new locality records, are described from the shallow-water New Caledonian lagoon and reefs [families Axinellidae (12 species, Cyrnbastela, Reniochalina, Axinella, Phakellia, Stylissa, Ptilocaulis, Pseudaxinella, Rhaphoxya) and Desmoxyidae (4 species, Myrrnekioderrna, Higginsia)], bringing the total number of described axinellid species in this region to 25. Brief revisions are provided for several of these genera, based primarily on the Indo-west Pacific fauna, in order to place these New Caledonian species. Non-endemic New Caledonian axinellids belong predominantly to the north-eastern Australian (Solanderian province) and Indo-Malay fauna, usually representing the easternmost extent of these species' distributions in the Indo-west Pacific. Two species, Axinella carteri (Dendy) and Astrosclera willeyana Lister, were found to be truly widely distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific, typically associated with coral reefs; other previously suspected widely distributed species were generally found to be allopatric, cryptic sibling species related to the tropical Australasian fauna.