Family MYCALIDAE Lundbeck, 1905

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Introduction

Mycalidae Lundbeck, 1905 have encrusting, massive, fan-shaped, cup-shaped and branching growth forms. Subectosomal sculpturing, grooves and ridges (i.e. astrorhizae) often occur on the surface, within which the ostia are usually found. The skeleton is arranged radially, plumose or plumo-reticulate, composed of styles (Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: fig. 17), subtylostyles most commonly (Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: fig. 20), or occasionally oxeas (Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: fig. 5), or oxeas enclosed in spongin fibres. Specialised ectosomal spicules are absent, although choanosomal spicules may form dense brushes at the surface. Microscleres are characteristically anisochelae (Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: fig. 73), but may also include many other forms such as palmate isochelae with geometric modifications (Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: figs 66–69, 85–88), sigmas (Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: figs 79–81), toxas (Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: figs 89, 90) and raphides (Hooper & Wiedenmayer 1994: fig. 109).

Members of this poecilosclerid family range in habitat from tidal waters down to at least 5340 m (Hartman 1982). Potentially twenty-nine nominal genera belong to this family, although only eleven genera are currently recognised, seven with Australian records, although some of these may be synonyms of Mycale. Many subgenera are used within Mycale, but the validity and status of some these is questionable. A species of Zygomycale, Zygomycale parishi, is known to live in waters of some of the major ports and harbours around Australia (Hooper, unpublished data) and throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans (C. Lévi, pers. comm.), although records have not yet been published for this region. This species is suspected to disperse by rafting on or in the hulls of ships.

The Mycalidae is reviewed in Hechtel (1965); Brien et al. (1973); Bergquist (1978); and Hartman (1982), and extensive research has been published and is in progress by Hajdu (e.g. Hajdu, 1994, 1995). A definition, revision and discussion of the family is given by Koltun (1966) and Bergquist & Fromont (1988) define the family and revise New Zealand species. A comprehensive revision of all nominal supra-specific taxa, based on re-examination of type material, in a phylogenetic framework, is in progress (E. Hajdu, pers. comm.).

Diagnosis

Encrusting, massive, fan-shaped and branching growth forms. Subectosomal sculpturing, grooves and ridges often found on the surface, within which are usually found the ostia. Skeleton plumose or plumoreticulate, composed of styles or rarely oxeas enclosed in spongin fibres or without visible spongin. Ectosomal tangential skeleton usually present. Ectosomal spicules may differ from the choanosomal ones by smaller size. Megascleres most often subtylostyles (mycalostyles), but (aniso)strongyles, oxeas and exotyles occur occasionally. Microscleres characteristically palmate anisochelae, but also palmate isochelae, sigmas, toxas, spined microxeas and raphides may occur. The family is quite diverse with about two hundred species described occurring in all parts of the world oceans, and possibly many more hundreds awaiting discovery.

ID Keys

KEY TO GENERA
(1) Only mycalostyles present ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mycale
Megascleres oxeas and/or strongyles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2

(2) Megascleres exclusively oxeas ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mycale (Oxymycale)
Megascleres oxeas and strongyles ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phlyctaenopora

Diagnosis References

van Soest, R.W.M. & Hajdu, E. 2002. Family Mycalidae Lundbeck, 1905. pp. 669-690 in Hooper, J.N.A. & van Soest, R.W.M. (eds). Systema Porifera: A guide to the classification of sponges. New York : Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers Vol. 1. [669]

General References

Bergquist, P.R. 1978. Sponges. London : Hutchinson 268 pp. 12 pls 81 figs 15 tables.

Bergquist, P.R. & Fromont, J. 1988. The marine fauna of New Zealand: Porifera, Demospongiae, Part 4 (Poecilosclerida). New Zealand Oceanographic Institute Memoir 96: 1-197 pls 1-57

Brien, P., Lévi, C., Sarà, M., Tuzet, O. & Vacelet, J. 1973. Spongiaires. pp. 1-716 485 figs in Grassé, P.P. (ed.). Traité de Zoologie. Anatomie, Systématique, Biologie. Paris : Masson et Cie Vol. 3(1).

Hajdu, E. 1994. A synopsis of South American Mycale (Mycale) (Poecilosclerida, Demospongiae), with description of three new species and a cladistic analysis of Mycalidae. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 101(3): 563-600

Hajdu, E. 1995. Mycale escarlatei n.sp. and Mycale unguifera n.sp. (Demospongiae) from the tropical-western Atlantic. Beaufortia 45(1): 1-16

Hartman, W.D. 1982. Porifera. pp. 640-666 in Parker, S.P. (ed.). Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. New York : McGraw-Hill Vol. 1.

Hechtel, G.J. 1965. A systematic study of the Demospongiae of Port Royal, Jamaica. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 20: i-iv 1-103 8 pls

Koltun, V.M. 1964. Sponges of the Antarctic. Part 1. Tetraxonida and Cornacuspongida. 6-116, 428-433 (systematic index), pls 1-15 in Pavlovskii, E.P., Andriyashev, A.P. & Ushakov, P.V. (eds). Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., Zoological Institute: Explorations of the fauna of the seas II (X). Biological Reports of the Soviet Antarctic Expedition (1955–1958). Moscow : Izdatel'stvo ‘Nauka' Vol. 2. [in Russian]

van Soest, R.W.M. 1984. Marine sponges from Curaçao and other Caribbean localities. Part III. Poecilosclerida. Studies on the Fauna of Curaçao and other Caribbean Islands 66(199): 1-167 pls 1-10

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