Oscarella Explained

Oscarella is a genus of marine sponges. The genus can be found off the coast of every continent, in every ocean except the Arctic.

Species

Subtaxa include:

• Oscarella aurantia Stillitani, Ereskovsky, Pérez, Ruiz, Laport, Puccinelli, Hardoim, Willenz, & Muricy, 2022
• Oscarella balibaloi Pérez, Ivanisevic, Dubois, Pedel, Thomas, Tokina, & Ereskovsky, 2011
• Oscarella bergenensis Gazave, Lavrov, Cabrol, Renard, Rocher, Vacelet, Adamska, Borchiellini, & Ereskovsky, 2013
• Oscarella carmela Muricy & Pearse, 2004
• Oscarella carollineae Stillitani, Ereskovsky, Pérez, Ruiz, Laport, Puccinelli, Hardoim, Willenz, & Muricy, 2022
• Oscarella cruenta (Carter, 1876)
• Oscarella filipoi Pérez & Ruiz, 2018
• Oscarella imperialis Muricy, Boury-Esnault, Bézac, & Vacelet, 1996
• Oscarella kamchatkensis Ereskovsky, Sanamyan, & Vishnyakov, 2009
• Oscarella lobularis (Schmidt, 1862)
• Oscarella malakhovi Ereskovsky, 2006
• Oscarella membranacea Hentschel, 1909
• Oscarella microlobata Muricy, Boury-Esnault, Bézac, & Vacelet, 1996
• Oscarella minka Ruiz, Ereskovsky, & Pérez, 2022
• Oscarella nicolae Gazave, Lavrov, Cabrol, Renard, Rocher, Vacelet, Adamska, Borchiellini, & Ereskovsky, 2013
• Oscarella nigraviolacea Bergquist & Kelly, 2004
• Oscarella ochreacea Muricy & Pearse, 2004
• Oscarella pearsei Ereskovsky, Richter, Lavrov, Schippers, & Nichols, 2017
• Oscarella ruthae Stillitani, Ereskovsky, Pérez, Ruiz, Laport, Puccinelli, Hardoim, Willenz, & Muricy, 2022
• Oscarella stillans Bergquist & Kelly, 2004
• Oscarella tenuis Hentschel, 1909
• Oscarella tuberculata (Schmidt, 1868)
• Oscarella viridis Muricy, Boury-Esnault, Bézac, & Vacelet, 1996
• Oscarella zoranja Pérez & Ruiz, 2018

Former members include:

• Oscarella nathaliae Ereskovsky, Lavrov & Willenz, 2014, now accepted as Plakina nathaliae (Ereskovsky, Lavrov & Willenz, 2014)
• Oscarella rubra (Hanitsch, 1890), now accepted as Aplysilla rubra (Hanitsch, 1890)
• Oscarella lobularis var. coerulea (Schulze, 1877), now accepted as a junior synonym of Oscarella lobularis (Schmidt, 1862)

Further reading

• Vosmaer, G.C.J. (1887). Klassen und Ordnungen der Spongien (Porifera). Pp. i-xii, 1-496, pls I-XXXIV. In: Bronn, H.G. (Ed.), Die Klassen und Ordnungen des Thierreichs. 2. (Leipzig & Heidelberg)
• Hayward, P.J. & J.S. Ryland (Eds.). (1990). The marine fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe: 1. Introduction and protozoans to arthropods. Clarendon Press: Oxford, UK. 627 pp
• Book: van Soest . R.W.M. . Costello . M.J. . European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification . 2001 . 85–103 . 2 October 2023 . en . Collection Patrimoines Naturels . 50 . Porifera.
• Boury-Esnault . N. . Sole-Cava . A. M. . Thorpe . J. P. . Genetic and cytological divergence between colour morphs of the Mediterranean sponge Oscarella lobularis Schmidt (Porifera, Demospongiae, Oscarellidae) . Journal of Natural History . 27 January 1992 . 26 . 2 . 271–284 . 10.1080/00222939200770131 . 2 October 2023 . en.