Hymeniacidon kitchingi
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| Hymeniacidon kitchingi | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Porifera |
| Class: | Demospongiae |
| Order: | Suberitida |
| Family: | Halichondriidae |
| Genus: | Hymeniacidon |
| Species: | H. kitchingi |
| Binomial name | |
| Hymeniacidon kitchingi | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Hymeniacidon kitchingi is a species of sponge in the class Demospongiae. It is found in shallow waters in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. This species was first described in 1935 by the British zoologist Maurice Burton. He placed it in a new genus because of its unusual spicules, and named it Rhaphidostyla kitchingi, in honour of Dr J. A. Kitching, who had collected the original specimen.[2] It was later transferred to the genus Hymeniacidon.
Hymeniacidon kitchingi is a small species forming cushions not exceeding 15 cm3 (1 cu in) in volume. The shape is very variable, with irregular lobes and various short, thin projections and more bulbous projections. Several ducts converge into each oscula; these exhalant openings are raised slightly above the surface and have transparent margins, but they are relatively inconspicuous. The surface of this sponge may be slightly rough, the texture is soft and compressible but porous, and the tissue crumbles easily. The general colour is grey or beige, sometimes tinged with pink or purple.[3] The skeleton contains long, slender styles, megascleres with one end pointed and the other end rounded; the blunt end of each has a series of abrupt narrowings which gives a stepped effect. Some of these megascleres are scattered throughout the mesogloea while others are formed into wispy bundles supporting the surface of the sponge. Hymeniacidon kitchingi could be confused with Halichondria bowerbanki, but that species has longer, more slender lobes and a different range of spicules. Another similar species is Haliclona viscosa, but in that species, the oscula are on the ends of conical projections and are more noticeable.[3]