Notes: Dark brown to dark and light green to gray soft cushions with or without the characteristic pungent minty smell. We have lumped here all Plakortis specimens with diod spicules up to about 120 µm in length, distinguishing them from the two morphotypes of Plakortis halichondroides (Wilson, 1902), "light brown" and "dark" pictured here, which are usually thicker, have larger oscules and larger spicules. Specimens without spicules (also varying in color and smell) are included here as a separate species (Plakortis sp.-"no spicules") pending further work with other tools. Indeed, some of our specimens of P. angulospiculatus appeared to have relatively few spicules. It may be that they all belong to one or several species (perhaps distinguished by predominant color) in which spicule contents vary ecologycally, from many to none. On the other hand, we have not yet carried out detailed analyses of spicule types (including searching for triods, microrhabds and spheres), to be able to distinguish among old and the many recently described Caribbean species with diods smaller than about 130 µm, which are Plakortis angulospiculatus, P. zygompha (de Laubenfels, 1934), P. insularis Moraes & Muricy, 2003, P. microrhabdifera Moraes & Muricy, 2003, P. myrae Ereskovsky et al., 2013, P. edwardsi Ereskovsky et al., 2013, P. dariae Ereskovsky et al., 2013. P. petrupaulensis Domingos et al., 2013, P. spinalis Domingos et al., 2013, and P. potiguarensis Domingos et al., 2013. In fact, our green specimens could belong to P. dariae, which is the only Caribbean species described as uniquely green.

Author Reference: (Carter, 1882)

Link: World Porifera Database