(Montagu, 1818)

Species Overview

Leucandra ananas (Montagu, 1818) is an egg-shaped calcareous sponge with villose surface and apical oscule. Its colour is whitish and it is rather firm. It is a northern species.

Taxonomic Description

Colour: White or grey (alcohol).
Shape, size, surface and consistency: Ovate, cylindrical or curved cucumber-like, occasionally stalked. Size up to 35 mm high, up to 16 mm in diameter. Surface villose, with blunt papilla bearing a brush of long oxeas; papillae 1 mm high, spaced about 1 mm apart. Wide-spaced internal cavity ending in a vent of 2-3 mm diameter. Consistency firm.
Spicules: (leucandra_ananas_spics.jpg) Calcareous. Ectosomal triactines, regular: 180 x 8-10 µm; choanosomal triactines subregular: 200-300 x 15-25 µm.
Choanosomal and atrial tetractines, sagittal, with paired rays: 180 x 15-25 µm, basal rays: 200-300 x 15-25 µm, and apical rays: 120 x 15-25 µm.
Oxeas: 1000-2000 x 20-30 µm.
Skeleton: Leuconoid organization. Ectosomal skeleton a tangential layer of triactines, with oxeas projecting outwards singly or in brushes. Choanosomal skeleton a mass of irregular triactines. Atrial skeleton a layer of sagittal tetractines with their long apical rays projecting into the atrial cavity.
Ecology: On hydroids and stones, in muddy environment, 6-120 m.
Distribution: Faroes, Norway.
Etymology: The name refers to the shape.
Type specimen information: No type material in BMNH.

Remarks

This species stands out among the Leucandra species by its villous, papillate surface. It is close in shape to L. aspera but differs in being less hard and having smaller spicules.
Source: Arndt, 1935.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Porifera
Subphylum Cellularia
Class Calcarea
Subclass Calcaronea
Order Leucosolenida
Family Grantiidae
Genus Leucandra
Species Leucandra ananas

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Leucandra ananas (Montagu, 1818)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Spongia ananas n.sp. Montagu, 1818: 96, pl. XVI fig. 3.
Spongia pulverulenta n.sp. Grant, 1826: 170; Fleming, 1828: 525.
Grantia pulverulenta: Johnston, 1842: 180.
Leucandra ananas: Haeckel, 1870: 200, pl. XXXII fig. 5, pl. XL figs. 1-8; Arnesen, 1901a: 71; Arndt, 1935: 17, fig. 21.
Leuconia ananas: Brøndsted, 1932: 4; Burton, 1957: 28; Burton, 1963: 360, fig. 205.

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

Arnesen, E., 1901a. Calcarea. Meeresfauna von Bergen: 67-72.

Brøndsted, H.V., 1932. Marine Spongia. The Zoology of the Faroes, 1 (1, III): 1-34.

Burton, M., 1957. Plymouth Marine Fauna. 3rd ed. Porifera. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K.: 26-36.

Burton, M., 1963. A revision of the classification of the calcareous sponges. British Museum (Natural History), London. 693 pp.

Fleming, J., 1828. A history of British animals. Edinburgh, London, 565 pp.

Grant, R.E., 1826. Notice of a new zoophyte (Cliona celata) from the Firth of Forth. Edinburgh philos. J., 1: 78.

Haeckel, E., 1870 (1872). Die Kalkschwämme, eine Monographie. 3 vols. Reimer, Berlin.

Johnston, G., 1842. A history of British sponges and Lithophytes. Lizars, Edinburgh: 1-264, 25 pls.

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.

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