Geodia curacaoensis new species Figures 8a–k Geodia aff. megastrella sensu Van Soest & Stentoft, 1988: 14, pl. 11 figs 1–4, text-fig. 4 (not: Carter, 1876, nec sensu Topsent, 1911, 1928) Material examined. Holotype: RMNH Por. 9260, Caribbean Netherlands, Klein Curacao, off SW coast (Dive 1), 11.9821°N 68.6452°W, on a coral rock wall at 156 m, coll. L.E. Becking & E. Meesters, field nr. CURASUB13-09/ BDR005, 27 May 2013. For comparison: Geodia cf. megastrella sensu Van Soest & Stentoft, 1988, ZMA Por. 05272, Barbados, off Paynes Bay, 144–153 m, 11 August 1978. Description. Small sphere (Fig. 8a) of 5.5 cm diameter (two fragments were preserved, one of 5 x 2.5 x 2 cm, a second of 4 x 2.5 x 2 cm). Surface generally smooth but with patches of long hair-like spicules distributed over the entire surface. Oscules crowded on top in a sieve plate. Color white grey around, but with upper half and sieveplate dark red. Cortex can crack easily, and choanosome is pulpy. Skeleton. Cortex (Fig. 8b) consisting of a layer of sterrasters 300–500 µm in thickness, carried by the cladi of radially arranged ortho/plagiotriaenes, anatriaenes and oxeas. Small short oxeotes and abundant small asters are distributed in the peripheral regions of the cortex among the cladi of the triaenes. Choanosomal skeleton a confused mass of oxeas and small aster microscleres. Spicules. Ortho/plagiotriaenes, anatriaenes, oxeas, cortical oxeotes, sterrasters, oxyasters, strongylasters. Ortho/plagiotriaenes (Fig. 8c), (cladi curved downwards, so technically they are closer to orthotriaenes than to plagiotriaenes, but the cladi are not exactly at right angles to the shaft). They are not very common and were invariably broken in the slides. From measurements from thick sections it appeared that the shaft length is up to approximately 4200 µm (usually smaller), shaft width 50–90 µm, cladomes 320–550 µm, cladi 160–270 x 60 µm. Anatriaenes (Figs. 8d, 8d 1), shaft length 1500–2000 µm, shaft width 20– 25 – 30 µm, cladomes 120– 152 – 180 µm, cladi 70– ...