First record of genus Phlyctaenopora in South Pacific waters

Four species of Phlyctaenopora Topsent, 1904 (Demospongiae Sollas, Poecilosclerida Topsent, Mycalidae Lundbeck) are recognised today (Van Soest et al. 2021a) (Table 1): two Atlantic Ocean species in subgenus Phlyctaenopora [type species P. (P.) bitorquis Topsent, 1904, from the Azores; P. (P.) halichondrioides van Soest Stentoft, 1988, from Barbados]; and two Southern Hemisphere species in subgenus Barbozia Dendy, 1922: P. (Barbozia) primitiva Dendy, 1922, from the Seychelles, and P. (B.) bocagei Lévi Lévi, 1983, from New Caledonia. Here we describe a new species of Phlyctaenopora from Wanganella North in International Waters on the West Norfolk Ridge, northwest of New Zealand. Phlyctaenopora (B.) spina sp. nov. provides a first record of the genus in the South Pacific, providing further confirmation of the integrity of the subgenus Barbozia.