A new species of Pheronematidae (Porifera: Hexactinellida: Amphidiscosida) from the Northwest Pacific Ocean

A new species of the family Pheronematidae is described in this study. Specimens were collected at Yap seamount and Caroline seamount in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. Poliopogon distortus sp. nov. contains oval macramphidiscs, three categories of amphidiscs, clavate monaxons and sceptres, making it distinguished from the eight known congeners easily. This is the fourth record of genus Poliopogon from the Northwest Pacific Ocean. We also used a partial sequence of 16S rDNA gene to confirm the family assignment of the new specimen.