(Bowerbank, 1866)

Species Overview

Desmacella inornata (Bowerbank, 1866) is massive, sometimes irregularly branched sponge with irregular surface. Colour greyish white. It is a deep-water species with a wide European distribution.

Taxonomic Description

Colour: Greyish white.
Shape, size, surface and consistency: Massive, irregular, occasionally with creeping branches. Thickness up to 7 cm. Surface irregular. Oscules few and rather large. Consistency fragile.
Spicules: (Desmacella inornata spics) Megascleres: Tylostyles of great size variation: 190-1000 x 6-18 µm.
Microscleres are sigmas: 20-45 µm.
Skeleton: Ectosomal: a tangential layer of single megascleres or a reticulation of bundles, or a confused mass. Choanosomal: multispicular bundles arranged in irregular reticulation.
Ecology: Deep water, 100-270 m.
Distribution: Shetlands, W coasts of Ireland, Norway, Portugal.
Etymology: inornatus (Latin) = unadorned, simple, presumably referring to the habit, which is rather simple.
Type specimen information: Natural History Museum, slides from type, unregistered (Bk. 654).

Remarks

This species differs from Desmacella annexa mainly in the absence of toxiform microscleres.
Source: Burton, 1930a.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Porifera
Class Demospongiae
Order Poecilosclerida
Suborder Mycalina
Family Desmacellidae
Genus Desmacella
Species Desmacella inornata

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Desmacella inornata (Bowerbank, 1866)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Halichondria inornatus n.sp. Bowerbank, 1866: 271; 1874: 119, pl. XLVII figs. 1-4; Gray, 1867: 539.
Biemna inornata: Topsent, 1892a: 80, pl. IX fig. 15; Ferrer-Hernandez, 1914b: 34; Stephens, 1921: 12, pl. II fig.2.
Desmacella vulgaris: Topsent, 1892a
Desmacella inornata: Topsent, 1904: 225; Burdon-Jones and Tambs-Lyche, 1960: 5.
Tylodesma inornata: Topsent, 1928: 192; Burton, 1930a: 499, 527; Arndt, 1935: 55, fig. 97.

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

Bowerbank, J.S., 1866. A monograph of the British Spongiadae, II. Ray Society, London: i-xx, 1-388.

Bowerbank, J.S., 1874. A monograph of the British Spongiadae, III. Ray Society, London: i-xvii, 1-367, pls. I-XCII.

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.

Ferrer-Hernandez, F., 1914b. Esponjas del Cantábrico, parte segunda. III. Myxospongida, IV. Tetraxonida, V. Triaxonida. Mus. nacion. Cienc. nat. Madrid, Zool., 17: 1-46.

Gray, J.E., 1867. Notes on the arrangement of sponges, with the description of some new genera. Proc. zool. Soc. London, 1867: 492-558, 2 pls.

Stephens, J., 1921. Sponges of the coast of Ireland. II.-The Tetraxonida (Concluded). Fisheries Ireland, Sci. Investigations, 1920, II [1921]: 1-75.

Topsent, E., 1892a. Contribution à l'étude des spongiaires de l'Atlantique Nord. Rés. Camp. sci. Prince Monaco, 2: 1-165, pls. I-XI.

Topsent, E., 1904. Spongiaires des Açores. Rés. Camp. sci. Prince Albert Monaco, 25: 1-280, pls. 1-18.

Topsent, E., 1928. Spongiaires de l'Atlantique et de la Méditerranée provenant des croisières de Prince Albert 1er de Monaco. Rés. Camp. sci. Prince Albert Monaco, 74: 1-376, pls. 1-11.

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