(Müller, 1776)

Species Overview

Crainella cranium (Müller, 1776), also known as Tetilla cranium, is a globular or egg-shaped yellowish sponge with a conulose or warty, hispid surface. It is tough and when cut in half shows a clear radiate structure. It is a northern deep water species similar to C. zetlandica; the two differ in details of the spicules (microscopic examination necessary).

Taxonomic Description

Colour: Yellowish to whitish.
Shape, size, surface and consistency: Ball-shaped, globular or egg-shaped sponges with conulous, warty, hispid surface. Size may be up to 9 cm in diameter. No apparent oscules. Consistency tough, hard.
Spicules: (craniella_cranium_spics.jpg) Megascleres: Oxeas of the cortical region, short, fusiform: 400-1400 x 32-55; oxeas of the radiate skeleton: 2100-9200 x 27-70 µm; protriaenes with shaft 3200-8500 x 8-30 µm, cladi 150-236 µm; anatriaenes with shaft 2100-20, 000 x 11-35 µm and cladi 50-150 µm.
Microscleres: Sigmaspires: 9-20 µm.
Skeleton: Strictly radiate; cortical oxeas are arranged singly, whereas choanosomal oxeas and triaenes are arranged in tracts or bundles.
Ecology: On stones and dead corals, 27-1000 m
Distribution: Norway, Faroes, Shetland, SW Ireland, Sweden; also recorded from many other localities outside European waters, but these need to be confirmed.
Etymology: The name refers to the resemblance to a rounded skull.
Type specimen information: No type material in BMNH.

Remarks

Craniella zetlandica (Carter, 1872) is similar in appearance and can be told apart only by microscopic examination. It apparently lacks the sigmaspire microscleres and also the sizes of the spicules are considerably smaller than those of the present species.
Source: Arndt, 1935.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Porifera
Class Demospongiae
Order Spirophorida
Family Tetillidae
Genus Craniella
Species Craniella cranium

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Craniella cranium (Müller, 1776)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Spongia cranium n.sp. Müller, 1776
Spongia pilosa n.sp. Montagu, 1818: 119, pl. XIII figs. 1-2.
Tethea cranium: Norman, 1869: 297
Tetilla cranium: Topsent, 1891a: 526; 1894: 388; Burton, 1930a: 490; Brøndsted, 1932: 4; Arndt, 1935: 24; Alander, 1935: 2; Burdon-Jones and Tambs-Lyche, 1960: 6.
Tethya cranium: Stephens, 1915: 19.
Craniella cranium: Von Lendenfeld, 1897: 84; Lévi, 1950b: 20; Borojevic et al., 1968: 4; Descatoire, 1969a: 185.

Alander, H., 1935. Additions to the Swedish sponge-fauna. Arkiv för Zoologi, 28B (5): 1-6.

Arndt, W., 1935. Porifera. Tierwelt Nord.-Ostsee, IIIa: 1-140, figs. 1-239.

Borojevic, R., L. Cabioch and C. Lévi, 1968. Spongiaires. Inventaire Faune Marine de Roscoff. 44 pp.

Burdon-Jones, C. and H. Tambs-Lyche, 1960. Observations on the fauna of the North Brattholmen stone-coral reef near Bergen. Årbok Univ. Bergen. Mat.-Naturv. Ser., 1960 (4): 1-24.

Burton, M., 1930a. Norwegian sponges from the Norman collection. Proc. zool. Soc. London, 2: 487-546.

Burton, M., 1932. Sponges. Discovery Reports, 6: 237-392.

Descatoire, A., 1969a. Peuplements sessiles de l' Archipel de Glénan. I. Inventaire: Spongiaires. Vie Milieu, (B) 20(1,B): 177-210.

Lendenfeld, R. von, 1897. Notes on Rockall island and bank. Reports. On the Spongiida. Trans. roy. Irish Acad., 31 (3): 82-88

Lévi, C., 1950b. Inventaire de la faune de Roscoff. Spongiaires. Trav. Stat. biol. Roscoff, n.s. 1 (suppl. 2): 1-28.

Montagu, G., 1818. An essay on sponges, with descriptions of all the species that have been discovered on the coast of Great Britain. Mem. Werner nat. Hist. Soc., 2 (1): 67-122, pls. III-XVI.

Müller, O.F., 1776. Zoologiae Danicae Prodromus. Havniae, 40 pp.

Norman, A.M., 1869. Notes on a few Hebridean sponges and on a new Desmacidon from Jersey. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., (4) 3: 296-299.

Stephens, J., 1915. Sponges of the coast of Ireland. 1.-The Triaxonida and part of the Tetraxonida. Fisheries Ireland, Sci. Investigations, 1914, IV [1915]: 1-43.

Topsent, E., 1891a. Essai sur la faune de spongiaires de Roscoff. Arch. Zool. expér. gén., (2) 9: 523-554.

Topsent, E., 1894. Étude monographique des spongiaires de France. I. Tetractinellida. Arch. Zool. exp. gén., (3) 2: 259-400.

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