Aulospongus phakelloides sp. n. (Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida: Raspailiidae) from deep water off Jamaica, W. I.

A new demosponge species of the genus Aulospongus is described from 550 m depth off Jamaica. Absence of a special ectosome and of spicules other than rhabdostyles places the new species among the reduced members of the genus. It differs from these in an unusual fan-shaped growth-form, shared only with Aulospongus flabellum Pulitzer-Finali, 1993 in 'vein-like' structures on one side of the fan, reminiscent of species of Phakellia, and in the shape and dimensions of the spicules. This is the second species of Aulospongus described from the Caribbean.