Contributions to Marine Science 2012
Fig. 7. Cliona patera. A. Skeletal cross-section of disk. Scale bar = 3 mm; B. Tylostyle tract extending to the cortex. At the surface is a
palisade of tylostyles with the needle end of tylostyle facing out. Scale bar = 200 μm; C. Vague paucispicular tylostyle tracts in space
between the thick spicule tracts. Scale bar = 200 μm; D. Tylostyles. Scale bar = 100 μm.
exhibited in Museo Civico Di Storia Naturale (Giacomo
Doria) in Genoa but no information of collection date and
specifi c locality (Fig. 4).
In 1974–76, surveys of fi shes in Java and South China Sea by
Pauly et al. (1996) revealed large mushroom-shaped sponges
(tentatively identifi ed as Poterion nautilus) in almost every
haul. The P. nautilus looks very much like C. patera from
a photo (Fig. 9) taken by Pauly. However, there is no way
to verify the identity of P. nautilaus as no specimen was
collected during that survey.
Remarks. — The rediscovery of the Cliona patera in
Singapore after more than a century is especially signifi cant
considering the extensive modification of its coastline.
Singapore has developed rapidly since its founding by Sir
Stamford Raffl es in 1819, transforming the quiet island
to a busy port in a few years. Now, Singapore is a highly
developed and urbanized city country, and have one of the
busiest ports in the world. The coast where C. patera used
to be found in abundance (Hardwicke, 1822; Crawfurd,
1830) has been greatly transformed. Almost the entire south
coastline of mainland Singapore and the 50-odd islands
have been reclaimed and developed in the past 50 years