Latrunculia oparinae n. sp. (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida, Latrunculiidae) from the Kurile Islands, Sea of Okhotsk, Russia

A new species of Latrunculia with unusual properties is described from Kurile Island, Sea of Okhotsk, Russia. Although this species is structurally very similar in choanosomal architecture to all known species of Latrunculia, it differs from other Latrunculia in both the structure of the anisodiscorhabd microscleres and by possessing terminally spined styles. It is the first Latrunculia to be described with terminally spined anisostyles. Furthermore, the characteristic anisodiscorhabds of this new species closely resemble microfossils found in Oligocene deposits from New Zealand. The similarity between the new species and the fossil New Zealand species, along with the strong differences in spiculation from other Latrunculia species, suggest a Tethyan affinity for this new species.