NIWA’s latest Biodiversity Memoir “Reiswig, H.M., Kelly, M. (2018) The Marine Fauna of New Zealand. Euplectellid glass sponges (Hexactinellida, Lyssacinosida, Euplectellidae). NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 130, 170 pp.” will be published in June 2018.
 
If you would like to receive a soft cover copy or pdf version, please email Michelle Kelly (michelle.kelly@niwa.co.nz) with your full mailing address and email address, and I will add you to the list for future mailouts.
 
Euplectellid glass sponges from the New Zealand EEZ are reviewed and revised in the latest NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 130, yielding well over 250 catalogued specimens. Prior to this work, only three euplectellid sponges were documented from New Zealand waters: Regadrella okinoseana, Walteria leuckarti and W. flemmingi. In 2017, a new species, Atlantisella lorraineae, was described from Tangaroa Seamount on the Kermadec Ridge. This list of four known species has now been expanded to a total of 26 species, including an additional four species known from other locations and 18 new species. These 26 species are representative of the entire family Euplectellidae and span 14 genera, three of which are new to science (Plumicoma gen. nov., Amphoreus gen. nov., Trychella gen. nov.). Four species previously unknown in the New Zealand region are redescribed: Euplectella imperialis; E. plumosum; Bolosoma charcoti and B. biocalum. Three species from the New Caledonia EEZ, have been included as they are considered highly likely to be present in the New Zealand region, but have, thus far, not been collected: Placopegma plumicomum; Bolosoma meridionale; Hyalostylus monomicrosclerus. Records from the Australian EEZ are included in this work: Euplectella imperialis, E. plumosum, Regadrella okinoseana and Walteria flemmingi are recorded from Lord Howe Plateau, Lord Howe Rise and Norfolk Basin in the north, Great Australian Bight, South Australia, and South Macquarie Ridge to the south of New Zealand. The type locality of Regadrella australis sp. nov. is Macquarie Ridge, in the Australian EEZ surrounding Macquarie Island; it is also recorded from the surrounding New Zealand EEZ. Records from International waters surrounding New Zealand include Euplectella imperialis from Lord Howe Plateau and R. okinoseana from Wanganella Bank and Louisville Seamount Chain.