Leucotreton kurilense, a new genus and species of calcareous sponges of the family Sycanthidae (Porifera: Calcarea: Leucosolenida) from the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with contribution to taxonomy and nomenclature of related genera

Abstract

A calcareous sponge Leucotreton kurilense gen. et sp. nov. (Sycanthidae) is described from the area of the Kuril Islands. It differs from all members of the family Sycanthidae in its aquiferous system, which is intermediate between leuconoid and sylleibid. Taxonomic status and nomenclature of several taxa formerly assigned to Sycanthidae is discussed. It is shown that the genus Dermatreton Jenkin, 1908 does not belong to Sycanthidae but this name is a senior synonym of Breitfussia Borojevic et al., 2000 (Jenkinidae), syn. nov.; Dermatreton contains three species previously included in Breitfussia: D. chartaceum Jenkin, 1908, D. schulzei (Breitfuss, 1896), comb. nov. and D. vitiosum (Brøndsted, 1931), comb. nov. It is shown that Tenthrenodes Jenkin, 1908 should be considered as a junior synonym of Sycon Risso, 1827, syn. nov. A new genus Scytotreton gen. nov. (Sycanthidae) is created to accommodate two species originally described in the genera Dermatreton and Tenthrenodes, respectively: Scytotreton hodgsoni (Jenkin, 1908), comb. nov. and S. scotti (Jenkin, 1908), comb. nov.