A new carnivorous sponge (Porifera) from the Coral Sea

A new species of carnivorous sponge, Lycopodina coralseaensis sp. nov., family Cladorhizidae, is described from the Louisiade Plateau, Coral Sea, off east coast Australia at bathyal depths ~2000 m, collected during RV Investigator 2019 voyage. The differs other with stipitate morphology by lacking forceps microscleres, similar to L. nikitawimandi Ekins et al., 2020a but differing in having only a very small single size class palmate anisochelae, and most importantly third category mycalostyle echinating stem basal holdfast. This sixth recently as Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (L. nikitawimandi, helios, cassida, brochidodroma hystrix), bringing total number sponges known so far 26.