Lime sponges
| Lime sponges | ||||||||||||
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Calcispongiae . From Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur from 1904 |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Calcarea | ||||||||||||
| Bowerbank , 1866 | ||||||||||||
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The lime sponges (Calcarea) are a class of the sponges (Porifera). They have been found in fossils since the Cambrian , and the number of recent species is estimated at 400 to 500. All types of calcareous sponges live in the sea.
features
The animals have exclusively calcitic sclerite with a wide range of forms, ranging from isolated monactinal, diactinal, triactinal to tetractinal spicula. In addition, there are reticulate skeletons with fused spicules. A differentiation of the spicula into mega and microsclera is not known. All three degrees of organization of the sponges ( Ascon, Sycon and Leucon types ) occur.
Way of life
All lime sponges live in the marine area. In contrast to the majority of the remaining sponges, calcareous sponges are preferred in shallower water and hidden in cave and small cave areas, in so-called cryptic habitats.
Systematics
The lime sponges are currently divided into two subclasses, each with several orders (overview):
Class: Lime sponges (Calcarea)
- Subclass: Calcaronea
- Order: Baerida
- Order: Leucosolenida
- Order: Lithonida
- Subclass: Calcinea
- Order: Clathrinida
- Order: Murrayonida
A distinction is also made between the taxon Heteractinida, which became extinct in the Permian geological system . Presumably it is a basal group of calcareous sponges.
literature
- John NA Hooper and Rob WM van Soest (eds.): Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges. Vol. 2 Calcarea, Hexactinellida, Sphinctozoa, Archaeocyatha, unrecognizable taxa, and Index of higher taxa. Pp. 1103-1708 + XLVIII S., Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers, New York, ISBN 0-306-47260-0 .
