Lafoeina maxima (Levinsen, 1893)
SYNONYMY
Keratosum complexum Hargitt, 1909
DESCRIPTION
Large, sponge-like colonies (Fig.1) consisting of erect branched or un-branched stem or producing a stolonal mat (the second one not seen in the Svalbard collection). Stems polysiphonic, densly covered with hydrothecae and nemathothecae (Fig. 2, Fig.3). Hydrothecae tubular, often bent, with no pedicel. Operculum conical with many triangular valves, lacking basal crease-line (Fig.3). Numerous nematothecae between hydrothecae, in the form of narrow tubes with rounded distal end. Gonothecae not well described.
DISTRIBUTION IN SVALBARD
Hornsund, Kongsfjorden, Rijpfjorden, Tommeloyane
WORLD DISTRIBUTION
Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Barents Sea, White Sea, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea, Alaska, Sea of Okhotsk
DEPTH
23-148 m
SUBSTRATE
Rock
REPRODUCTION
Probably sporosac. Gonothecae not seen in the Svalbard collection.