Monanchora stocki n. sp. (Porifera, Poecilosclerida) from the Mid-Atlantic islands

A new species of the tropical-subtropical genus Monanchora Carter, 1883, is reported from São Tiago (Cape Verde Islands) and Ascension Island. The new species, M. stocki n. sp., is compared with related Atlantic and Indo-Pacific species, viz. Caribbean M. arbuscula (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864) (senior synonym of Echinostylinos unguiferus De Laubenfels, 1953, and Monanchora barbadensis Hechtel, 1969), and Indo-Pacific M. unguiculata (Dendy, 1922). The new species stands out among Monanchora species by the longer and more pointed teeth of its spatulate-unguiferate chelae, which in extreme cases almost meet. The structure of the chelae of Monanchora species of various parts of its range are compared with that found in some other (? related) genera, leading to critical remarks on current familial classifications of the Poecilosclerida.