Description of Mycale bamfieldense n.sp. (Porifera, Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida) from Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Keyword(s):
A new species of Porifera, Mycale banfieldense (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida), is described from a semiobscure, intertidal cavern of the outer coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. This is the first species of Mycale from the Pacific basin known to possess micracanthoxea microscleres, and only the second such species worldwide. These microscleres, which average 4.2 × 0.2 μm, are the smallest sponge spicules discovered to date. They are formed individually within cytoplasmic vacuoles of anucleolate scleroblasts but each scleroblast contains 20 to 50 similar spicules.