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A sponge
Sponge & Cnidarian
A sponge
Myxilla (Myxilla) fimbriata (Bowerbank, 1866)
WoRMS AphialID
169461
<a href=BOLD:ADG6740
https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/Public_BarcodeCluster?clusteruri=BOLD:ADG6740 target="_blank" style="text-decoration: underline">BOLD:ADG6740
https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/Public_BarcodeCluster?clusteruri=BOLD:ADG6740
Sample IDs
ARC81523 https://bench.boldsystems.org/index.php/MAS_DataRetrieval_OpenSpecimen?selectedrecordid=ATCSP161-24
Collected
Scotian shelf, Bay of Fundy.
Distinguishing Features
• External appearance (Fig. A, B, D): Bright orange sponge forming low, thick cushions or mounds on bedrock. Large holes (oscula), up to 10 millimetres in diameter, are sparsely scattered across its surface.
• Skeleton (Fig. C): The choanosomal skeleton is a regular reticulation of acanthostyles. The ectosomal skeleton is formed of a tangential layer of tornotes.
• Spicules (Fig. E, F): Measurements from ARC 82167. Acanthostyles: 189(253)329 by 7(9)13 µm sparsely spined. Tornotes: 173(209)252 by 6(7)9 µm Abruptly pointed ends, often mucronate. Chelae: 21(24)27 µm spatuliferous anchorate chelae. These have the fimbriae which are distinctive for the species. A second category of larger chelae 60-70 µm in length was found in some specimens. These were rare and not found in other specimens. Sigmata: Not recorded.
Habitat
Found subtidally on bedrock.
Geographic Range
Widespread in the North Atlantic, it has been found in the Faroes, Norway, Sweden, Northern France, and the British Isles in north-eastern Europe. There are also records from Greenland and Iceland and Baffin Bay to the Davis Strait. It is very common in the Bay of Fundy and along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia.
Fun Fact
When scientists preserve this species in alcohol, it changes from yellow to a dark chocolate brown colour. Chemical reactions with air or preservatives result in significant colour changes in some sponge species. These can be a useful identification character.
Barcode Distribution
Only one other specimen in BIN, this is from France.
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