New Shallow-Water Sponges (Porifera) From The Galapagos Islands

Twenty-five new species of shallow-water sponges are described from the Galapagos Islands, a province of Ecuador in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sponges were photographed in situ and collected by SCUBA divers between 2001 and 2004. New species include: Acanthancora equiformis sp. nov., Acanthella saladinorum sp. nov., Cacospongia hermanorum sp. nov., Cinachyrella solis sp. nov., Ciocalypta bustamanti sp. nov., Clathria (Microciona) stellata sp. nov., Clathrina andreusi sp. nov., Craniella lissi sp. nov., Dragmacidon raeae sp. nov., Dragmacidon hendersoni sp. nov., Haliclona (Haliclona) clairae sp. nov., Haliclona (Haliclona) dianae sp. nov., Haliclona (Reniera) oberi sp. nov., Haliclona (Soestella) spuma sp. nov., Haliclona (Soestella) roslynae sp. nov., Hemimycale harlequinus sp. nov., Hemimycale nathani sp. nov., Higginsia johannae sp. nov., Neopetrosia eructans sp. nov., Leucilla agitata sp. nov., Penares angeli sp. nov., Prosuberites vansoesti sp. nov., Suberea esmerelda sp. nov., Tethya annona sp. nov. and Tethya sorbetus sp. nov. In addition, three species have been recorded for the first time from the Galapagos Islands: Chalinula cf. molitba (De Laubenfels, 1949), Chelonaplysilla violacea (Von Lendenfeld, 1883) and Tedania (Tedania) tropicalis Aguilar-Camacho, Carballo & Cruz-Barraza, 2018. This paper represents a significant contribution to our knowledge of the Porifera of the Galapagos Islands.