Description

Description. The holotype is dried and in two fragments (Fig 3 A), the larger fragment measuring 18 x 11 x 1 – 2 mm with attached pieces of the substrate sponge, the smaller is 16 x 6 x 1 – 2 mm. The color of both pieces is golden brown with some beige spots. The consistency is hard and incompressible. There are no visible oscula. The upper side is microconulose (Figs 3 B, 4 A, B), due to abundant and approximately evenly spaced groups of protruding diactines. The bottom-side is smooth (Figs 3 C, 4 A), only microhispid, due to relatively short diactines arranged perpendicular to the surface. In the choanosome the diactines are arranged more or less parallel to the plane of the incrustation (Fig 4 A), at the upper surface groups of diactines form small conules of the height of the diactines (Figs 3 D, E, 4 B). As the height of the conules is lower than the length of the largest diactines, the conules and also the diactines arranged perpendicular to the surface of the bottom-side contain mostly relatively small diactines. However, larger diactines may also reach into the conules from below. In the choanosome larger diactines are more abundant but, smaller diactines are found as well. Diactines are usually somewhat distorted, irregularly shaped, some spined, some microspined, some completely smooth, and sometimes only partially spined (Figs 4 C-F). They occur in a broad size range, 76 – 1225 x 5 – 46 µm, mean values 464 x 18 µm.

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Porifera

Class: Calcarea

Order: Baerida

Family: Trichogypsiidae

Genus: Trichogypsia

Species: Trichogypsia alaskensis Lehnert & Stone, 2017