A guide to the deep-water sponges of - NMFS Scientific Publications ...

91. Mycale (Mycale) loveni (Fristedt, 1887)
Synonym: Mycale (Carmia) bellabellensis (Lambe, 1905)
Description. This sponge is polymorphic; massively
encrusting or stalked. The consistency is fragile, inelastic
but difficult to tear against the direction of the long
polyspicular tracts (laterally); easier to tear parallel to
the tracts (top to bottom). Aleutian specimens may
be stalked vases to 20 cm in height or massive forms
to 1 m high and wide. Color in life varies from yellow
to greenish yellow to brown. Gulf of Alaska specimens
have a cone-shaped body with a slender stalk and are
club-shaped until approximately 8 cm high or wide and
then develop the characteristic cone shape. Cones may
reach 1 m or more in height and diameter. Color in life
varies from yellow to light yellow.
Skeletal structure. Very long ascending polyspicular
tracts (visible to the unaided eye) lie below a reticulate
dermal skeleton. Tracts are branching with thick tracts
connected by shorter tracts. Tylostyles (370–495 × 10–15
µm) often have the largest diameter just before the
point. Anisochelae are large (80–110 µm) and small
(30–42 µm).
Zoogeographic distribution. Widespread and locally
abundant. In Alaska – Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea,
Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska. Elsewhere – Sea of
Okhotsk, Pacific Coast of the Kuril Islands, Chukchi Sea
(Russia), Arctic Ocean (East Siberian Sea), and British
Columbia.
Habitat. Central Aleutian Islands – typically attached
to boulders, cobbles, and pebbles at depths between 56
and 744 m (massive form) and 171 to 191 m (stalked
form). Bering Sea (Pribilof Canyon) – uncommon; attached
to cobbles and pebbles at depths between 260
and 309 m. Eastern Gulf of Alaska – most specimens are
attached to bedrock, boulders, and cobbles at depths
between 143 and 289 m in the eastern Gulf of Alaska
109
(and presumably much deeper based on unconfirmed
catches with longline gear). Elsewhere – no information
is available.
Remarks. We consider M. loveni and M. bellabellensis to
be the same species, the latter being a cone-shaped ecomorph
adapted for low-current habitats in the Gulf of
Alaska. The two species have the same spicule complement
and arrangement and internal skeletal structure.
In the eastern Gulf of Alaska the species is club-shaped
until approximately 8 cm wide and then it develops
the characteristic cone shape. The sharpchin rockfish
(Sebastes zacentrus) and other rockfish species often use
this sponge as perching habitat. This species is preyed
upon by the sea star Ceramaster patagonicus.
Photos. 1) Fragment of a specimen (massive form)
collected at a depth of 309 m in Pribilof Canyon, Bering
Sea. Grid marks are 1 cm 2 . 2) Several specimens (massive
form) at a depth of 96 m in the central Aleutian
Islands. 3) Several specimens (massive form) with a
sharpchin rockfish (Sebastes zacentrus) at a depth of 119
m in the central Aleutian Islands. 4) Preserved (frozen)
specimen (stalked form) collected at a depth of 192 m
in the central Aleutian Islands. Grid marks are 1 cm 2 .
5) Same specimen as in photo 4 in situ. The separation
between the red laser marks is 10 cm. 6) Specimen collected
at a depth of 167 m in the eastern Gulf of Alaska.
Grid marks are 1 cm 2 . 7) Juvenile specimen (with associated
euphasid) collected at a depth of 165 m in the
eastern Gulf of Alaska. Grid marks are 1 cm 2 . 8) Same
specimen as in photo 7 in situ. 9) Specimen with a gravid
sharpchin rockfish (S. zacentrus) at a depth of 170 m in
the eastern Gulf of Alaska. Photo by J. Lincoln Freese
(AFSC). 10) A more robust cone-shaped form with a
sharpchin rockfish (S. zacentrus) in a higher current
area at a depth of 179 m in the eastern Gulf of Alaska.
Note the juvenile specimen at the upper left. Photo by
J. Lincoln Freese (AFSC).