Rare freshwater sponges of Australasia: new record of Umborotula bogorensis (Porifera: Spongillida: Spongillidae) from the Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve in Northeast Thailand

Nisit Ruengsawang,Taksin Artchawakom,Renata Manconi,Narumon Sangpradub,Roberto Pronzato

doi:10.5852/ejt.2017.260

Abstract

Umborotula bogorensis (Weber, 1890) is a freshwater sponge species that is recorded occasionally, mainly on islands and peninsulas of Australasia. Less than 10 records with morphological descriptions and illustrations have been published so far, and the most recent record is dated 1978. A list of the few voucher specimens from museum collections is provided here together with the rich unpublished Sasaki collection from Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, recently deposited in a Japanese museum. The present new record from Northeast Thailand enlarges the geographic range of U. bogorensis to the Indochina mainland. A comparison of historical data vs present Thai records is performed by morpho-analysis (SEM) as well as biogeographic, ecological and climatic data. Results show low variability in shape and size of the diagnostic morphotraits in populations scattered over the wide geographic range. Here we also formally accept the new taxonomic status (rank elevation) of the previous suborder Spongillina as a new order Spongillida. The presence of this potentially threatened species in the Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve, together with its possible long-term persistence in the Bogor Botanical Garden, may support its conservation. Only a census of the known, extremely scattered populations will define the status of this species.

Highlights

Southeast Asia harbours nearly one-fourth of the planet’s plant and animal species (Myers et al 2000; Mittermeier et al 2005)
We report the discovery of Umborotula bogorensis (Weber, 1890) from Northeast Thailand in the Southeast Asian tropics, more than 80 years after one was last recorded
The definition and diagnosis are here confirmed in part; we erase “Haplosclerida with” from the beginning of the diagnosis; we add strongyles among megascleres, and we anticipate the presence of the earliest fossil of the taxon at the Upper Carboniferous

Summary

Introduction

Southeast Asia harbours nearly one-fourth of the planet’s plant and animal species (Myers et al 2000; Mittermeier et al 2005). This biodiversity hot spot needs conservation measures (Sodhi et al 2010; Woodruff 2010), for the extremely vulnerable freshwater ecosystems and their biota (Lévêque et al 2005; Balian et al 2008; Manconi & Pronzato 2008; Manconi et al 2013; Van Damme et al 2013). We formally accept the rank elevation of the previous suborder Spongillina to the new order Spongillida

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Results

Conclusion