Spongillida Manconi & Pronzato 2002
- Dataset
- Rare freshwater sponges of Australasia: new record of Umborotula bogorensis (Porifera: Spongillida: Spongillidae) from the Sakaerat Biosphere Reserve in Northeast Thailand
- Rank
- ORDER
Classification
- kingdom
- Animalia
- phylum
- Porifera
- class
- Demospongiae
- order
- Spongillida
discussion
We formally accept the new taxonomic status (rank elevation) of the previous suborder Spongillina as the new order Spongillida. The definition and diagnosis (emended after Manconi & Pronzato 2002: 921 – 922 and Manconi & Pronzato 2011: 348) are here confirmed in part; we simply erase “ Haplosclerida with ” from the beginning of the diagnosis; we add strongyles among megascleres, and we anticipate the presence of the earliest fossil of the taxon at the Upper Carboniferous. We also add a final sentence which states: “ The order Spongillida is cosmopolitan in freshwater and brackish water and it is absent only from Antarctica. ” The rank elevation of the suborder Spongillina to the order Spongillida was proposed by Cárdenas et al. (2012) and Morrow & Cárdenas (2015), confirming the monophyly of freshwater sponges on the basis of both morphological (Manconi & Pronzato 2002, 2011) and molecular analyses (Itskovich et al. 1999, 2007, 2008; Addis & Peterson 2005; Meixner et al. 2007; Redmond et al. 2007; Morrow et al. 2012; Morrow & Cárdenas 2015). Summarizing, from a morphological point of view, Spongillida are characterised by a skeletal architecture of monaxonid spicules (oxeas, styles, and strongyles) organized in isotropic / anisotropic networks of mono- to multi-spicular fibres, with scanty to abundant spongin. Microscleres are often present. Megascleres present as smooth, tubercled to variably spiny monaxons. The presence of resting bodies named gemmules is a trait shared by most families, genera, and species (ca 89 %). Gemmules are a key diagnostic trait at genus and species levels. The closest taxon is the marine order Haplosclerida.
Name
- Homonyms
- Spongillida Manconi & Pronzato 2002