Polymastia pepo
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Polymastia pepo | ||||||||||||||
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Polymastia pepo Kelly-Borges & Bergquist, 1997 |
Polymastia pepo is a species of demosponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is a common species of rocky subtidal and intertidal habitats in the far north of North Island, New Zealand.
This is a large, often spherical sponge up to 40 cm in diameter. It is firm and bright orange and rather resembles a pumpkin (hence the specific name: "pepo" is Latin for "pumpkin").
[edit] References
- Michelle Kelly-Borges & Patricia R. Bergquist (1997). Revision of Southwest Pacific Polymastiidae (Porifera: Demospongiae: Hadromerida) with descriptions of new species of Polymastia Bowerbank, Tylexocladus Topsent, and Acanthopolymastia gen. nov. from New Zealand and the Norfolk Ridge, New Caledonia. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 31: 367–402.