García-Hernández, Jaaziel E.

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    Diversity of calcareous sponges (subclass Calcinea) from Puerto Rico: genetic and morphological evidence
    (2017) García-Hernández, Jaaziel E.; Alfaro, Mónica; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Schizas, Nikolaos; Cafaro, Matías; Department of Biology; Figueroa Robles, Iris
    The first findings of Puerto Rican calcareous sponges are presented in this Thesis. We analyzed the calcareous (subclass Calcinea) sponge diversity of Puerto Rico and an integrative molecular and morphological approach was used for the taxonomic identification of every sample. A total of 273 specimens of calcareous sponges were collected from 2013 through 2017 from 25 localities. Our phylogenetic results reveled a total of 20 different species of calcareous sponges, all belonging to the subclass Calcinea. This study is reporting a total of 17 new species of calcareous sponges, with only three species being previously described: Clathrina aurea, Leucetta floridana, and Nicola tetela. The calcareous sponge Nicola tetela is also a new distribution record since it was previously reported only from Brazil and Curacao. Our phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that all sponges identified as Leucetta floridana formed a strongly supported monophyletic group (Pp=1). Within the genus Clathrina, the morphologically defined species C. aurea, C. sp 1, C. sp. 4, C. sp. 5, and C. sp 6 are monophyletic. Our specimens from the genera Nicola, Arthuria, and Ernstia formed strongly supported monophyletic groups with other publicly available sequences identified as Nicola, Arthuria, and Ernstia, respectively. Notable exception was the genus Borojevia, which is depicted as a polyphyletic group.