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Two Pione species (Hadromerida, Clionaidae) from the Red Sea: a taxonomical challenge

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Abstract

Boring sponges of the genus Pione (Hadromerida, Clionaidae) are easily recognizable due to their spiculation. However, species identification is challenging, as the potentially diagnostic morphological character states of different species often overlap. For this reason, this group of species is frequently referred to as the ‘Pione vastifica complex’, after the most well-studied species of the genus. Boring-sponge samples were collected in the Red Sea and identified as P. cf. lampa and P. cf. vastifica, respectively. So far, these two species names have usually been considered as valid, although some authors suggested them to be synonymous. Morphological analyses were performed on spicules and micro-erosion patterns by means of both light and scanning electron microscopy. Two apparent morphotypes can be distinguished, mainly by the growth form, but statistical analysis does not support a clear separation in two species. In addition, a DNA barcoding approach using sequences of CO1 has not identified any nucleotide sequence differences. These data support the hypothesis that P. cf. lampa and P. cf. vastifica from the Red Sea are conspecific.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Dr. Francesca Benzoni, Bicocca University, Milano, who provided international contacts. We also thank Dr. Rady Talaat, Dr. Mohammed Salem and Dr. Yasser Awadalla at the Training Center of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency in Sharm el Sheik for their hospitality, and Dr. Fouda of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, Nature Conservation Sector, for field work permission. Further thanks are due to Judith Pöppe, who helped with the molecular analysis. We are also grateful to Christine Hanna Lydia Schönberg and Shimrit Perkol-Finkel for their comments, to Massimo Ponti and Giovanni Fontana, Bologna University, and to Mario Mori, Università Politecnica delle Marche, for helping with statistical analysis and image editing. Thanks are due to the referees for their the critical comments, which have greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. Special thanks go to Maria Luisa Zanzottera and Erasmo Ferrario.

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  1. Filippo Ferrario

    Present address: Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca per le Scienze Ambientali in Ravenna, Università di Bologna, Via S. Alberto, 163, 48123, Ravenna, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 20126, Milano, Italy

    Filippo Ferrario & Paolo Galli

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131, Ancona, Italy

    Barbara Calcinai

  3. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeontology and Geobiology & GeoBio-CenterLMU, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333, Munich, Germany

    Dirk Erpenbeck & Gert Wörheide

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Correspondence to Filippo Ferrario.

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Ferrario, F., Calcinai, B., Erpenbeck, D. et al. Two Pione species (Hadromerida, Clionaidae) from the Red Sea: a taxonomical challenge. Org Divers Evol 10, 275–285 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-010-0027-x

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