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

50 Professional Paper NMFS 12
34. Aaptos kanuux Lehnert, Hocevar, and Stone 2008
Description. Species is irregularly globular. Surface
is almost smooth, microscopically slightly uneven. No
oscula are visible. Consistency is firm, only slightly
elastic. Diameter ranges from 9 to 19 mm. Color in life
is mustard yellow.
Skeletal structure. SEM images of spicules are shown
in Appendix IV. Spicules are strictly radially arranged
in the choanosome; spicule density is very high. Special
dermal oxeas are densely arranged perpendicular to
the surface and form a palisade. There are fusiform
strongyloxeas (1795–2132 × 15–22 µm), subtylostyles
(500–770 × 8–10 µm), and ectosomal tylostyles (104–215
× 4–8 µm).
Zoogeographic distribution. Locally common. In
Alaska – known only from the type locality in Pribilof
Canyon, Bering Sea. Elsewhere – not reported.
Habitat. Attached to pebbles in low-relief (i.e., flatbottomed)
silt and sand habitat at depths between 203
and 240 m. Often found in association with several
unknown species of hydroids, zoanthids, and the demosponge
Stylocordyla borealis eous.
Photos. 1) Specimen collected at a depth of 219 m in
Pribilof Canyon, Bering Sea. 2) Same specimen as in
photo 1 showing close-up detail of the radial arrangement
of the choanosome. 3) Same specimen as in
photos 1 and 2 in situ. The separation between the red
laser marks is 10 cm.