New records of the sponge Radiospongilla inesi (Porifera: Spongilidae) and the slug Omalonyx matheroni (Gastropoda: Succineidae) in the Vale do Paraíba, southeast Brazil

Cláudia Regina da Silva Leite,Valter José Cobo

doi:10.4136/ambi-agua.2321

Cláudia Regina da Silva Leite, Valter José Cobo

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4136/ambi-agua.2321

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Abstract

This report provides the new record of the sponge Radiospongilla inesi and the slug Omalonyx matheroni for the Vale do Paraiba, State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil, besides the symbiosis among R. inesi and individuals of some benthic macroinvertebrates. Monthly collections were carried out in the Ribeirão dos Mottas, with a 0.5 cm sieve in the edge vegetation, as well as collections by hand. Three specimens of R. inesi were found, from a lotic environment under pebbles. In addition, individuals of four insect families, Sisyridae, Hydropsychidae, Chironomidae e Simuliidae, were found on the sponge aquiferous system. Six individuals of the semi-aquatic slug O. matheroni were also caught under rocks and cans. Despite the sponges are commonly found in the most of the environments, the freshwater species represents one of the most unknown animal groups of the world. R. inesi was report at first time in Brazil in Pernambuco State, northeastern Brazil region, and this report represents just the second record of this species in Brazil, and the first time to the southeastern region. The presence of individuals of four insect families pointing out the importance of R. inesi on the life history of these animals. Despite some records of Omalonix sp. to the São Paulo State, this report seems to be the first record of the O. matheroni to the Vale do Paraíba, northern of the São Paulo State.

Highlights

Freshwater sponges of the monophyletic order Spongillida, is the unique lineage of demosponges that colonized lentic and lotic systems sometime in the PermoCarboniferous (Schuster et al 2018; Kenny et al 2019).The genus Radiospongilla Penney & Racek, 1968, present gemmoscleres radially arranged on gemmules and microscleres absents
Along the 18 species described for the genus Radiospongilla, only three are recorded in the Neotropical Region, R. crateriformis (Potts, 1882), distributed in Mexico, United States, Suriname, Canada, Barbados, Cuba, Costa Rica, China and Japan
This report provides the new record of the sponge Radiospongilla inesi and the slug Omalonyx matheroni for the Vale do Paraiba, southeastern Brazil region, in the municipality of Guaratinguetá, State of São Paulo, besides the symbiosis among R. inesi and individuals of some benthic macroinvertebrates

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Freshwater sponges of the monophyletic order Spongillida, is the unique lineage of demosponges that colonized lentic and lotic systems sometime in the PermoCarboniferous (Schuster et al 2018; Kenny et al 2019). The genus Radiospongilla Penney & Racek, 1968, present gemmoscleres radially arranged on gemmules and microscleres absents This species is widely distributed over the world and recorded in all zoogeographical regions, except for Antarctica (Manconi & Pronzato, 2007; Osborn et al 2008). The genus Omalonyx d’Orbigny, 1837 comprises hermaphrodite slugs that have two blackish longitudinal lines and dispersal spots over the body (Arruda et al, 2006, Arruda et al, 2009). They are distributed over the Neotropical area, in the West Indies and South America. This report provides the new record of the sponge Radiospongilla inesi and the slug Omalonyx matheroni for the Vale do Paraiba, southeastern Brazil region, in the municipality of Guaratinguetá, State of São Paulo, besides the symbiosis among R. inesi and individuals of some benthic macroinvertebrates

MATERIAL AND METHODS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

CONCLUSIONS