Svenzea, a new genus of Dictyonellidae (Porifera: Demospongiae) from tropical reef environments, with description of two new species

Abstract

The new genus Svenzea is created to group three sponge species from tropical reef environments of the Caribbean Sea and Indonesia: Pseudaxinella (?) zeai Alvarez, Van Soest & Rützler, Svenzea cristinae n. sp. and S. devoogdae n. sp. The genus shows affinities with members of both Halichondrida and Haplosclerida but it is assigned to the family Dictyonellidae based on shared microanatomical and developmental features. The higher taxonomic position of Svenzea is a subject for future investigations.