620 research outputs found
Howard Payne University, Brownwood, Texas, Lasso, 1985, Volume 74
No full textYearbook for Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas includes photos of and information about the university, student body, professors, and organizations
New Latrunculiidae genus (Porifera, Poecilosclerida) from the Madagascar Ridge
No full textPayne, Robyn, Samaai, Toufiek, Kelly, Michelle (2022): New Latrunculiidae genus (Porifera, Poecilosclerida) from the Madagascar Ridge. Zootaxa 5105 (2): 296-300, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5105.2.
Biverticillus Payne & Samaai & Kelly 2022, gen. nov.
No full textGenus Biverticillus gen. nov. Type species. Biverticillus tenuissimus gen. et sp. nov., designated herein. Diagnosis. Very thinly encrusting sponges with undulating but smooth surface, and soft texture; easily torn. Choanosome composed of thin, small subtylostyles in tracts that diverge and radiate from base to surface. Ectosome a dense tangential layer of megascleres, above which sits an irregular palisade of microscleres oriented in different directions. Microscleres are anisospinodiscorhabds with a stout shaft bearing an apical whorl with solitary (rarely bifurcate) spines, and a basal manubrium with bifurcate spines, each differing from the other slightly in the angle of repose of the spines. The median and subsidiary whorls are centrally located, equally spaced between each other and the apical whorl and manubrium and are mostly equidiametral. All whorl spines are themselves heavily spined. Etymology. Named for Latrunculiidae with a new form of microsclere, the anisospinodiscorhabd, with two centrally located, equally spaced whorls of acanthose spines, between apical and basal substructures (biverticillus, double whorl; Latin).Published as part of Payne, Robyn, Samaai, Toufiek & Kelly, Michelle, 2022, New Latrunculiidae genus (Porifera, Poecilosclerida) from the Madagascar Ridge, pp. 296-300 in Zootaxa 5105 (2) on page 296, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5105.2.9, http://zenodo.org/record/633271
Tsitsikamma (Clavicaulis) Samaai, Kelly, Payne, subgen. nov.
No full textSubgenus Clavicaulis Samaai, Kelly, Payne and Ngwakum subgen. nov. Type species. Tsitsikamma pedunculata Samaai, Gibbons, Kelly and Davies-Coleman, 2003: 19; 19–20, fig. 3G, 4F, 6B. Diagnosis. Tsitsikamma species that are either stalked wrinkled/smooth and non-stalked wrinkled/smooth attached by a narrow base, having a single purse-like chamber with a much softer interior of wispy tracts. The isochiadiscorhabd microscleres have either two or three cylindrical-conical tubercles projecting from the shaft, though sometimes the third whorl is rudimentary. Etymology. club-shaped (clavi - combining form NL, fr. L, fr. clava = club), Stalk (caul- or cauli- or caulocombining form (cauli - fr. L caulis = stalk) Remarks. We herewith establish the new subgenus Clavicaulis subgen. nov. for the species Tsitsikamma pedunculata, T. michaeli Parker-Nance, 2019, T. madib a sp. nov. and T. beukesi sp. nov., based on the stalked, sack or purse-shaped body morphology of the sponges, which, in effect, forms a single, reinforced chamber, unlike subgenus Tsitsikamma which is characterised by the possession of a rigid, honeycomb-like structure, with chambers visible to the unaided eye.Published as part of Samaai, Toufiek, Kelly, Michelle, Ngwakum, Benedicta, Payne, Robyn, Teske, Peter R., Janson, Liesl, Kerwath, Sven, Parker, Denham & Gibbons, Mark J., 2020, New Latrunculiidae (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida) from the Agulhas ecoregion of temperate southern Africa, pp. 409-442 in Zootaxa 4896 (3) on page 426, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4896.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/439068
Richard Dawkins in conversation with Robyn Williams
No full textDawkins and Williams discuss the intricacies, the fascinating patterns and the anomalies produced by the process of evolution on earth.
At the Melbourne Town Hall, presented by the Melbourne Writers Festival, outspoken and influential author and scientist Richard Dawkins speaks to Robyn Williams (ABC RN) about the ideas underpinning his new book, The Greatest Show on Earth. They discuss the intricacies, the fascinating patterns and the anomalies produced by the process of evolution on earth. Dawkins then takes further questions from the audience about the theory of evolution, genetic determinism, the climate change denial movement and the place of religion in the world of science. Melbourne, March 2010.
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Biverticillus tenuissimus Payne & Samaai & Kelly 2022, gen. et sp. nov.
No full textBiverticillus tenuissimus gen. et sp. nov. (Fig. 1) Material examined. Holotype. SAMC-A088843 (cross reference TS 2563; WSL-INV74(45)): Walters Shoal Seamount, Grid WSL024, Station ALG10956 (33.147° S, 43.818° E), 103–348 m, coll. R / V Algoa, dredge, 29 May 2014. Type locality. Walters Shoal Seamount, south of Madagascar on the Madagascar Ridge, Western Indian Ocean (Fig. 1A). Description. Very thin sponge encrusting rubble (Fig. 1B), length 20 mm, width 19 mm and thickness 0.5 mm. Surface undulating but smooth, with no ostia or oscules visible. Texture soft, ectosome tears easily. Colour in life and preservative black, dark brown under microscope. Skeleton. Choanosome comprises thin megasclere tracts that diverge and radiate from base to surface. Ectosome a dense tangential layer of megascleres, above which sits an irregular palisade of microscleres oriented in different directions (Fig. 1C). Spicules. Megascleres (Fig. 1F), subtylostyles, smooth, sometimes polytylote, slightly sinuous: 263 (225–285) × 5 (4–6) μm, n = 25. Microscleres (Fig. 1D, E) are anisospinodiscorhabds with a stout shaft, the apical whorl is composed of four, solitary, curved spines (very rarely bifurcate; 98% of spicules), that extend from the shaft at a shallower angle than do the basal spines. Centrally located median and subsidiary whorls are composed of bifurcate spines, mostly equidiametral, equally spaced between each other and apical and basal whorls. The basal spines are also bifurcate. All spines are heavily spined: 36 (26–40) × 4 (2–4) μm, width including whorls, 20 (8–24) μm, n = 25. Substrate, depth range and ecology. Attached to rubble and associated with dead clams and hydrozoans, 103– 348 m. Etymology. Named for the very thin encrusting form (tenuissimus, very thin; Latin). Remarks. The establishment of a new monotypic latrunculid genus for a small, inconspicuous holotype, is not unprecedented: tiny (4–12 mm diameter) Bomba endeavourensis Kelly, Reiswig & Samaai in Kelly et al. (2016) was also described from a single location (2500 m deep on the Endeavour Ridge off the coast of British Columbia) and had microscleres very different from other Latrunculiidae (Kelly et al. 2016). Unfortunately, DNA extractions and Polymerase Chain Reaction amplifications were unsuccessful in the case of Biverticillus tenuissimus gen. et sp. nov. and discontinued due to the risk of destroying the small holotype. However, in terms of morphology and spiculation, we can differentiate this species from other Latrunculiidae. Biverticillus tenuissimus gen. et sp. nov. is a thin encrusting sponge (unusual in the family) with a unique form of discorhabd microsclere and, with the exception of Latrunculia cratera Bocage, 1870 (anisostyles 160–190 µm), has the smallest megascleres recorded in species of Latrunculiidae (Samaai et al. 2006; Kelly et al. 2016; MK unpublished review of New Zealand and Antarctic species). The anisospinodiscorhabds of Biverticillus gen. nov. are superficially comparable to the typical anisodiscorhabds of subgenus Latrunculia (Biannulata) (Fig. 1I), also with only four distinct substructures, but there are several characters that differentiate these anisodiscorhabds further: 1) the anisodiscorhabds in all Latrunculia (Biannulata) (and indeed all species of Latrunculia; see Fig. 1H–J for some examples) have a greater expanse of shaft above the undifferentiated basal whorl and manubrium, than in those of Biverticillus gen. nov. (hence the prefix aniso-in the term aniso-discorhabd). In Biverticillus gen. nov., the distance between each whorl is equal, in the anisospinodiscorhabds the prefix aniso- refers to the difference in the form of the apex and base, not the distribution of the whorls along the shaft; 2) the whorls in the microscleres of Biverticillus gen. nov. are equidiametral unlike those in genus Latrunculia, which frequently have a broader median whorl; 3) the pattern of development (ontogeny) of the anisodiscorhabd in Latrunculia differs significantly from that of Biverticillus gen. nov. The anisodiscoprotorhabd of Latrunculia is a straight uniform shaft with two acentric crenulated discs that develops from a straight protorhabd (see Fig. 2A in Samaai et al. 2004), whereas the anisospinoprotorhabd of Biverticillus gen. nov. has synchronous protorhabd development and equal distances between the central whorls (Fig. 1E). The anisospinodiscorhabds of Biverticillus gen. nov. (Fig. 1D) are more closely comparable to the isospinodiscorhabds in the South African genus Cyclacanthia (Fig. 1G), as both have equidistant, equidiametral whorls and apical and basal substructures. The major diagnostic difference, however, is that there is only a single, central whorl of spines in the isospinodiscorhabds of Cyclacanthia, which in one species may even be missing (C. rethahofmeyri Samaai, Kelly, Payne & Ngwakum, 2020). While certainly closely comparable, the microscleres of Biverticillus gen. nov. are aniso- in their form because the apical and basal substructures differ in the angle of repose of their spines. Until new material is discovered, the establishment here of the monotypic genus, Biverticillus gen. nov., rather than expansion of the diagnoses of other Latrunculiidae such as Cyclacanthia, is supported by: 1) the ontogeny of the anisospinoprotorhabd in Biverticillus gen. nov. which differs from that in Latrunculia; 2) the unprecedented form of the diagnostic microsclere compared to the microscleres of other Latrunculiidae; 3) the very thin encrusting morphology of the holotype, which is unusual for Latrunculiidae; 4) the isolated location of the holotype south of Madagascar, and; 4) the continuing discovery of new fossil and Recent diversity in family Latrunculiidae.Published as part of Payne, Robyn, Samaai, Toufiek & Kelly, Michelle, 2022, New Latrunculiidae genus (Porifera, Poecilosclerida) from the Madagascar Ridge, pp. 296-300 in Zootaxa 5105 (2) on pages 296-297, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5105.2.9, http://zenodo.org/record/633271
New Latrunculiidae (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida) from the Agulhas ecoregion of temperate southern Africa
No full textSamaai, Toufiek, Kelly, Michelle, Ngwakum, Benedicta, Payne, Robyn, Teske, Peter R., Janson, Liesl, Kerwath, Sven, Parker, Denham, Gibbons, Mark J. (2020): New Latrunculiidae (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida) from the Agulhas ecoregion of temperate southern Africa. Zootaxa 4896 (3): 409-442, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4896.3.
Cyclacanthia rethahofmeyri Samaai, Kelly, Payne, sp. nov.
No full textCyclacanthia rethahofmeyri Samaai, Kelly, Payne and Ngwakum sp. nov. (Fig. 15B, Tables 6, 7) Material examined. Holotype SAMC-A090895, Amathole region Stn 3872, Eastern Cape, 32.950° S, 28.066° E, 40.5 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 31 Aug 2016. Paratypes. SAMC-A090896, Amathole region Stn 3737, Eastern Cape, 32.751° S, 28,415° E, 31 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 23 Feb 2016; SAMC-A090897, SAMC-A090898, SAMC-A090899, Amathole region Stn 3832, Eastern Cape, 32.759° S, 28.410° E, 45 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 27 Aug 2016. Type locality. Amathole region, off East London, Eastern Cape. Distribution. Amathole region, off East London, 40.5 m. Description. Shape varies from either flattened low lying hemispherical (flattened), ranging from 24 mm long by 24 mm wide by 6 mm thick to hemispherical sponges, 13 mm long by 34 mm wide by 27 mm thick (Fig. 15D). Surface undulating but smooth, with volcano-shaped oscules, 5 mm high by 3 mm wide at base, 1 mm at apex being closely packed (5mm apart), and a few nodular truncate areolate porefields, 3 mm high by 3 mm wide, with no poral membrane covering the opening. Texture firm, rubbery and tough. Medium to barely compressible, difficult to tear or break. Colour in life either black, dark green/black or dark brown; in preservative dark green (Fig. 15D). Green exudate visible, no smell. Skeleton. The choanosomal skeleton forms an irregular polygonal reticulation formed by wispy tracts of smooth styles (Fig. 15H). The tracts range in width from 85 –150 μm in thickness, and form meshes that are 195 μm wide. Within the inner choanosome, tracts diverge towards the surface and are 172–205 μm wide. Interstitial spicules are abundant. The ectosome has a palisade of densely packed interlocking anisodiscorhabds, which are absent from the surface structures. The paratangential layer beneath the palisade is approximately 320 μm deep, and this extends into the oscular fistules. Spicules. Megascleres are anisostyles in one size category: Large, thick, smooth, straight, occasionally sinuous, centrally thickened, narrow proximal region, fusiform: 696 (480–796) × 18 μm. Microscleres are isospinodiscorhabds I (Fig. 15E, F) with 50% of microscleres either having three or two whorls. In some spicules the median whorl is absent or rudimentary. The manubrium is identical to the apical whorl. The median whorl is equidistant from both apical whorl and manubrium, but smaller and shorter: 49 (38–60) μm. Large isospinodiscorhabds II (Fig. 15G) with two whorls, 75 (64–88) × 15 (15) μm. Substratum, depth range and ecology. Occurs off East London, Amathole region at a depth range of 30–42 m. DNA sequence data. We sequenced partial COI of collected material from different localities; GenBank accession numbers: COI MK153269 – MK153271; MK016476. Etymology. The species name rethahofmeyri is given in memory of Emeritus Professor Dr Retha Hofmeyr who joined the Zoology Department at the University of Western Cape in 1974 and served as Head of Department from 1991 to 1992 before she passed away in 2020. Retha will always be cherished and remembered for her kindness and encouragement of her students and staff. Remarks. Cyclacanthia rethahofmeyri sp. nov. have acanthose isospinodiscorhabds as microscleres (Fig. 14) and conforms to the general skeletal characteristics of the genus. The examination of this material revealed the presence of a second category of large isospinodiscorhabds (Fig. 15G, a spicule not present in any other Cyclacanthia species described to date (Samaai et al. 2004). The definition of Cyclacanthia has been expanded to include species with a 2 nd category of isospinorhabds. The COI sequences of the Cyclacanthia specimens was clearly separated from Tsitsikamma and formed one, strongly supported phylogenetic cluster characterised by a single distinct haplotype (Fig. 6). Table 7 highlights the morphological characters of the different Cyclacanthia species and figure 14 shows the different types of isospinodiscorhabds. The family Latrunculiidae is monophyletic as indicated by the COI phylogeny (Fig. 6).Published as part of Samaai, Toufiek, Kelly, Michelle, Ngwakum, Benedicta, Payne, Robyn, Teske, Peter R., Janson, Liesl, Kerwath, Sven, Parker, Denham & Gibbons, Mark J., 2020, New Latrunculiidae (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida) from the Agulhas ecoregion of temperate southern Africa, pp. 409-442 in Zootaxa 4896 (3) on pages 435-437, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4896.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/439068
Farm to Fork Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment for Norovirus on Frozen Strawberries
No full textFoodborne illness outbreaks have been increasingly linked to the consumption of fresh and frozen berries that were contaminated with pathogenic viruses, such as human norovirus (NoV). Contamination of berries is assumed to take place at harvest by the use of contaminated water for pesticide dilution, irrigation water source or by shedding berry pickers in the field. A quantitative microbial risk assessment simulation model was built to replicate the largest known NoV outbreak which sickened about 11,000 people over a 3-week period. The outbreak occurred in Germany in 2012 when contaminated frozen strawberries were served at nearly 400 schools and daycare centers. The risk model explicitly assumed that all contamination would arise from NoV contamination of surface water used for pesticide dilution. Input data was collected from the published literature, observational studies and assumptions. The model starts with contamination of the berries in the field, and proceeds through transportation to processing facility, washing, sanitizing, freezing, frozen transport to cargo ship, transport view of cargo ship, transport to distribution center, frozen storage at the distribution center, transport to the catering facility, food service preparation and consumption, dose response, and predicted illnesses. A total of 21 scenarios were chosen to evaluate the impact of model parameters on the number of illness associated with NoV contamination of berries. Scenarios evaluated include the initial level of NoV in surface water, the effect of seasonality on the prevalence of NoV in surface water, the strength of the pesticide used, the volume of water used to dilute the pesticide, temperature during transportation to processing facility, washing and sanitizing conditions at processing facility and preparation (heat-treatment) of berries prior to consumption. Scenarios were compared via the Factor Sensitivity technique where the logarithm of the ratio of mean illnesses was used to compare different assumptions. The input that had the greatest effect on increasing in the number of illnesses was a high NoV concentration in the water (8 log Genome Copies/L) when compared to the baseline scenario with resulting mean illnesses of 7,964 illnesses and ~2 illnesses, respectively. This assumption about the concentration of virus in the pesticide makeup water was the only variable capable of producing an outbreak similar to that observed in Germany in 2012. Heat-treatment of the berries, use of a pesticide with strong antiviral effect, and assumption about the virus concentration in the pesticide make-up water had the largest impact on decreasing illnesses.Peer reviewe
Tsitsikamma (Tsitsikamma) amatholensis Samaai, Kelly, Payne, sp. nov.
No full textTsitsikamma (Tsitsikamma) amatholensis Samaai, Kelly, Payne and Ngwakum sp. nov. (Fig. 10, Tables 1, 3) Material examined. Holotype. SAMC-A090878, Amathole region Stn 3872, Eastern Cape, 32.950° S, 28.066° E, 40.5 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 31 Aug 2016. Paratypes. SAMC-A090877, Amathole region Stn 3813, Eastern Cape, 32.681° S, 28.458° E, 52–55 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 26 Aug 2016; SAMC-A090879, Amathole region Stn 3872, Eastern Cape, 32.950° S, 28.066° E, 40.5 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 31 August 2016; SAMC-A090880, Amathole region Stn 3807, Eastern Cape, 33.134° S, 27.768° E, 33 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 02 Mar 2016; SAMC-A 090881, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, 32.933° S, 28.080° E, 40.5 m, dredge sampling, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 31 Aug 2016. Other material examined. SAMC-A091436, Evans Peak, Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth, 33.842° S, 25.816° E, 30 m, collected by Rhodes University, May 2010; SAMC-A091430, SAMC-A091431, SAMC-A091432, SAMC-A 091433, SAMC-A091434, SAMC-A091435, Evans Peak, Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth, 33.842° S, 25.816° E, 30 m, collected by Rhodes University, May 2010; SAMC-A091437, Amathole region Stn 3737, Eastern Cape, 32.751° S, 28.415° E, 31 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 23 Feb 2016; SAMC-A091438, Amathole region Stn 3807, Eastern Cape, 33.134° S, 27.768° E, 33 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 02 Mar 2016; SAMC-A091439, Amathole region Stn 3831, Eastern Cape, 32.759° S, 28.411° E, 47 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 27 Aug 2016; SAMC-A091440, Amathole region Stn 3832, Eastern Cape, 32.759° S, 28.410° E, 45 m, RV Ellen Khuzwayo, collected by R. Payne, dredge, 27 Aug 2016. Type locality. Amathole, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Description. Thickly encrusting, sometimes hemispherical, 30 mm long × 30 mm wide × 20 mm thick attached by a common base to the surface (Fig. 10). Specimens vary in thickness from 3–30 mm. Surface undulating but smooth and crowded with cylindrical, long lance-shaped oscules similar to those observed in T. scurra, 5 mm wide, 10 mm high and with pedunculate cauliform areolate porefields, 1 mm wide, 2–3 mm high, with no membrane. Texture tough, firm. Medium to slightly compressible, tears not easily, difficult to break. Thick ectosome visible, 0.5 mm thick. Colour in life dark brown to dark olive green; in preservative dark brown with green exudate, sometimes cream (Fig. 10; Table 1). Skeleton. The choanosome is divided into honeycomb-like chambers, thick reinforced tracts of anisostyles, forming meshes that are elliptical in shape (Fig. 10). Within and between the chambers and convoluted layers the skeleton consists of an ill-formed, irregular reticulation of small anisostyles; these tracts range in width from 100– 350 μm. Microscleres are isochiadiscorhabds, and these are abundant throughout the choanosome. The ectosome is composed of a thick, dense feltwork of tangential and paratangential anisostyles approximately 100 μm wide. This layer is present in the fistulae, with anisostyles disposed in a compact regular vertical to oblique arrangement supporting the cauliform areolate structures. A single layer (sometimes double layer) of erect isochiadiscorhabds (45 μm wide) lines the surface of the ectosome (Fig.10). Spicules (Table 1, 3). Megascleres are anisostyles, in two size categories: (1) straight or slightly sinuous, thickened centrally, fusiform, 721 (681–758) × 19.2 (19.2) μm; (2) straight or slightly sinuous, thickened centrally, fusiform: 584 (509–653) × 19.2 (19.2) μm. Microscleres are isochiadiscorhabds with three whorls of cylindrical-conical tubercles, the apex of each tubercular projection is acanthose: 45 (38–58) × 7 (4 –7) μm (Fig. 10). Distribution. Southeast Agulhas ecoregion from Port Elizabeth to East London, South Africa. Substratum, depth range and ecology. Locally common off East London, Amathole region and Port Elizabeth, Evans Peaks, at a depth range of 30 to 55 m in areas with strong current. DNA sequence data. We sequenced partial COI of collected material from different localities; GenBank accession numbers: COI MK153277 – MK153284. Etymology. The species name reflects the type locality, Amathole, a district in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. “Amathole” means “calves” in the Xhosa language, and refers to the forested mountain range that forms the northern boundary of the district. Remarks. Tsitsikamma (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. was first collected in 2010 but identified only as “ Tsitsikamma sp. undescribed” based on the external morphological characteristics and isochiadiscorhabd structure (TS unpublished data) of the specimens. Matcher et al. (2017) generated partial 28S rRNA sequences for six Tsitsikamma specimens collected from the same locations as the 2009/2010 collections and confirmed the presence of two unidentified Tsitsikamma species (see Table 1 and Fig. 3b in Matcher et al. 2017). Parker-Nance et al. (2019) described a new species from these collections (Evans Peak) as T. michaeli, an observation we confirmed after re-examining all the Walmsley/Matcher specimens (Supplementary Table S1). The other Walmsley et al. (2012) specimens were identified as T. (T.) favus by TS. The second unidentified Tsitsikamma sp. is here described as a specimen of Tsitsikamma (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. Tsitsikamma (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. differs from T. (T.) favus , T. (T.) scurra and T. (T.) nguni in the following characteristics: 1) Tsitsikamma (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. is dark brown to dark olive green in situ, and has large hollow lance-shaped oscules and numerous short stalked cauliform porefields, while T. (T.) favus is turquoise to dark brown, semispherical and with short surface extensions, T. (T.) scurra is lime green with a brownish surface in situ, and has long, hollow, strappy oscular fistules and T. (T.) nguni is dark slate-coloured with small short, blunt rounded knob-shaped or button-like oscula; 2) Tsitsikamma (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. is thickly encrusting, sometimes hemispherical with a thick ectosome, while Tsitsikamma (T.) scurra has a folded globular thick encrusting growth structure with thin sandpaper-like ectosome (Samaai et al. 2006; Parker-Nance et al. 2019), T. (T.) favus and T. (T.) nguni has a thickly encrusting, globular to semi-spherical morphology with a dense, thick ectosome; 3) Tsitsikamma (T.) scurra has larger, thicker anisostyles [thick 829 (774–882) × 24 μm; thin 669 (585–738) × 17 μm] than Tsitsikamma (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. [thick 721 (681–758) × 19.2 (19.2) μm; thin 584 (509–653) × 19.2 (19.2) μm] while T. (T.) favus [thick 621 (537–700) × 14 (14) μm; thin 530 (480–566) × 9.6 (9.6) μm] and T. (T.) nguni [thick 555 (428–672) × 14 (10–19) μm; thin 561 (449–832) × 10 (3–14) μm] are smaller than those of T. (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. and thinner on average (see Tables 1, 2, 3); 4) the isochiadiscorhabds with long cylindrical, conical tubercles are similar in size found in T. (T.) scurra [41 (38–45) × 8 μm], but smaller in average than those in T. (T.) favus [48 (41–60) × 9 (7.2–9.6) μm] and T. (T.) nguni (Tables 1, 2, 3; Fig. 5, 9, 10); 5). The number of cylindrical-conical tubercles surrounding the apical whorl and manubrium in T. (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. is six per group, oppose to three and four to six per group surrounding the manubrium only in T. (T.) favus in T. (T.) nguni, respectively (Parker-Nance et al. 2019). Apart from this, the cylindrical-conical tubercles also differ; T. (T.) favus and T. (T.) nguni possess two pairs, while T. (T.) scurra and T. (T.) amatholensis possess three pairs arranged in a triangle; 6) The distribution of the two species is disparate: Tsitsikamma (T.) scurra is recorded from Hout Bay in the southern Benguela ecoregion while T. (T.) favus , T. (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. and T. (T.) nguni are recorded from the Agulhas ecoregion. In Algoa Bay T. (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. is sympatric with T. (T.) favus, T. pedunculata and T. michaeli and in Amathole the species is sympatric with the other new species (as described below), and can be differentiated on subtle differences in colour, gross morphology and isochiadiscorhabd morphology. The gross morphology of T. pedunculata and T. michaeli are, however, quite different from those of T. (T.) favus and T. (T.) amatholensis sp. nov., forming the basis for establishment in this work of a new subgenus Tsitsikamma (Clavicaulis) subgen. nov. There was no intraspecific genetic diversity for the COI gene sequences for specimens of T. (T.) amatholensis sp. nov. and no interspecific genetic diversity for T. (T.) amatholensis sp. nov., T. (T.) favus and the other specimens.Published as part of Samaai, Toufiek, Kelly, Michelle, Ngwakum, Benedicta, Payne, Robyn, Teske, Peter R., Janson, Liesl, Kerwath, Sven, Parker, Denham & Gibbons, Mark J., 2020, New Latrunculiidae (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida) from the Agulhas ecoregion of temperate southern Africa, pp. 409-442 in Zootaxa 4896 (3) on pages 424-426, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4896.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/439068
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