Clathrina rubra

Sarà, 1958b

Species Overview

Clathrina rubra Sarà, 1958b is an orange Clathrina in all other respects similar to C . coriacea . Although originally described as a variety of C . coriacea , it has subsequently been considered as a separate species by French authors. It is predominantly Mediterranean, but has also been recorded from Roscoff.

Taxonomic Description

Colour: Reddish orange.
Shape, size, surface and consistency: An encrusting tightly meshed network of thin tubes with terminal oscule. Size up to 2 cm in diameter. Consistency soft, easily damaged.
Spicules: Calcareous. No further data are available. Presumably similar to C . coriacea , i.e. exclusively equal-angled triactines of 60-120 by 6-12 µm.
Skeleton: No data. Presumably similar to C . coriacea , i.e. spicules packed tangentially in the walls of the tubes.
Histology: According to Sarà (1958) the choanocytes have nuclei 2/3rd the size of those of C . coriacea . The number of porocytes is lower and granuli in these cells are less visible than in C . coriacea .
Reproduction: August.
Ecology: Boulder zones and on shells and stones, in the Axinella zone; rare; in the Mediterranean known from caves.
Distribution: Roscoff, Naples.
Type specimen information: Presumably in the Istituto e Museo di Zoologia dell'Università di Napoli.

Remarks

This is a dubious species, based on histological details of which the variability or distribution over other Clathrina specimens is not known. Very few data on morphology and spiculation have been supplied by the original author and those of subsequent records.
Source: Sarà, 1958b.