(Bowerbank, 1845)

Species Overview

Sycon elegans (Bowerbank, 1845) is a small cylindrical calcareous sponge similar to other Sycon species, but with a characteristic "tessellated" surface, i.e. has a regular polygonal pattern (low magnification). The surface is more or less smooth.

Taxonomic Description

Colour: Dark yellow to whitish grey.
Shape, size, surface and consistency: Small cylinders with a short apical fringe and more or less smooth surface, that shows a characteristic reticulated appearance at low magnification. Size up to 1-2 cm high, 0.5 cm wide. Consistency fragile.
Spicules: Calcareous. Triactines, in several categories: those of the distal cone are thickened, with paired rays 50-90 x 25-35 µm, basal ray 200-400 x 25-35 µm; those of the radial tubes have paired rays 80 x 10 and basal rays 120 x 10 µm; subatrial triactines with paired rays 80-100 x 10 µm, basal rays 100-120 x 10 µm; atrial triactines with rays 120 x 8 µm, basal rays: 80 x 8 µm.
Ttetractines of the atrial wall, similar to atrial triactines, apical rays 120-160 x 12-16 µm.
Oxeas: 200-250 x 3-20 µm.
Skeleton: (Sycon elegans skel) Radial tubes lined with triactines, distal cones ornamented with oxeas and thickened triactines. Atrial skeleton of triactines and tetractines.
Reproduction: July-August.
Ecology: In sea grass beds, on Corallina, on rocks in the sublittoral, 0-24 m.
Distribution: Channel Islands, Roscoff, Iles de Glénan; Mediterranean, Canary islands.
Type specimen information: BMNH 1910.1.1.679 (wet + slides), Norman Collection.

Remarks

The "tessellated" appearance of the surface is the most reliable identification character. In spiculation this species resembles S. humboldti, but the oxeas of the apical fringe are much longer in that species.
Source: Burton, 1963.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Porifera
Class Calcarea
Subclass Calcaronea
Order Leucosolenida
Family Sycettidae
Genus Sycon
Species Sycon elegans

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Sycon elegans (Bowerbank, 1845)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Dunstervillia elegans n.sp. Bowerbank, 1845: 297, pl. XVII.
Grantia tesselata n.sp. Bowerbank, 1864: 29, pl. IV fig. 86, pl. XVII fig. 286; 1866: 26; 1874: pl. II.
Sycandra elegans: Haeckel, 1870: 338, pl.54, 58.
Sycon elegans: Topsent, 1891a; De Beauchamp, 1914: 93; Borojevic et al., 1968: 33; Descatoire, 1969a: 182; Burton, 1963: 382.

Beauchamp, P. de, 1914. Les grèves de Roscoff. Lechevalier, Paris.

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

Bowerbank, J.S., 1845. Description of a new genus of calcareous sponges (Dunstervillia). Ann. Mag. nat. Hist., (1) 15: 297-500.

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.

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

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

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

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

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