Microcionidae

Belongs within: Poecilosclerida.

The Microcionidae are a group of demosponges found predominantly in shallow waters, with the skeleton usually differentiated between distinct choanosomal, subectosomal and ectosomal regions (Hooper 2002).

Characters (from Hooper 2002): Skeleton with terminally spined ectosomal styles, rarely modified to quasidiactinal or diactinal forms; three skeletal regions defined by presence of different forms of structural styles: choanosomal (axial) skeleton (with spongin fibres enveloping principal styles echinatcd by acanthose or smooth styles; sometimes replaced by a basal or axial renieroid skeleton of smooth or acanthose styles or strongyles, with or without echinating spicules); subectosomal (extra-axial or extra-fibre) skeleton (with individual or tracts of auxiliary styles ascending to surface); and ectosomal skeleton (with smaller auxiliary styles forming a surface crust tangential, paratangential or perpendicular to surface); one or more skeletal regions may be lost or modified. Megascleres predominantly smooth styles, may be modified and/or supplemented by quasidiactinal or diactinal forms, or lost completely and replaced with detritus. Microscleres including palmate isochelae and diverse forms of toxas.

<==Microcionidae
    |–Echinochalina (Echinochalina) intermedia (Whitelegge 1902) FV09
    |–Echinoclathria leporina (Lamarck 1814) MG-H11
    |–Antho Gray 1867 BJ06
    |    `–A. (Acarnia Gray 1867) [incl. Plocamia Schmidt 1870] BJ06
    |         `–‘Plocamia’ ridleyi Hentschel 1912 BJ06
    |–Holopsamma Carter 1885 MG-H11, LT64
    |    |–*H. laevis Carter 1885 LT64
    |    |–H. arborea (Lendenfeld 1888) MG-H11
    |    `–H. turbo Carter 1885 [=Sigmatella turbo] T72
    `–Clathria Schmidt 1862 BJ06
         |  i. s.: C. claviformis Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |         C. coppingeri BJ06
         |           |–C. c. coppingeri BJ06
         |           `–C. c. aculeata Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |         C. frondifera BJ06
         |           |–C. f. frondifera BJ06
         |           |–C. f. dichela Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |           `–C. f. major Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |         C. mixta Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |         C. nuda Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |         C. spiculosa BJ06
         |           |–C. s. spiculosa BJ06
         |           `–C. s. macilenta Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |         C. typica BJ06
         |           |–C. t. typica BJ06
         |           `–C. t. porrecta Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |–C. (Isociella) selachia Hooper 1996 MG-H11
         |–C. (Microciona) FV09
         |    |–C. (M.) aceratoobtusa (Carter 1887) FV09
         |    `–‘Microciona’ prolifera C-SC03
         `–C. (Thalysias Duchassaing & Michelotti 1864) [incl. Rhaphidophlus Ehlers 1870] BJ06
              |–C. (T.) abietina (Lamarck 1814) MG-H11
              |–C. (T.) cervicornis (Thiele 1903) FV09 [=Rhaphidophlus cervicornis BJ06]
              |–‘Rhaphidophlus’ coralliophilus Thiele 1903 BJ06
              |–C. (T.) juniperina (Lamarck 1814) MG-H11
              |–C. (T.) procera (Ridley 1884) MG-H11
              `–C. (T.) reinwardti Vosamer 1880 FV09

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BJ06] Barnich, R., & D. Janussen. 2006. Die Typen und Typoide des Naturmuseums Senckenberg, Nr. 86. Type catalogue of the Porifera in the collections of the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Senckenbergiana Biologica 86 (2): 127–144.

[C-SC03] Cavalier-Smith, T., & E. E.-Y. Chao. 2003. Phylogeny of Choanozoa, Apusozoa, and other Protozoa and early eukaryote megaevolution. Journal of Molecular Evolution 56: 540–563.

[FV09] Fromont, J., & M. A. Vanderklift. 2009. Porifera (sponges) of Mermaid, Scott and Seringapatam Reefs, north Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 77: 89–103.

Hooper, J. N. A. 2002. Family Microcionidae Carter, 1875. In: Hooper, J. N. A., & R. W. M. Van Soest (eds) Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges pp. 432–468. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers: New York.

[LT64] Loeblich, A. R., Jr & H. Tappan. 1964. Sarcodina: chiefly “thecamoebians” and Foraminiferida. In: Moore, R. C. (ed.) Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology pt C. Protista 2 vol. 2. The Geological Society of America and The University of Kansas Press.

[MG-H11] McEnnulty, F. R., K. L. Gowlett-Holmes, A. Williams, F. Althaus, J. Fromont, G. C. B. Poore, T. D. O’Hara, L. Marsh, P. Kott, S. Slack-Smith, P. Alderslade & M. V. Kitahara. 2011. The deepwater megabenthic invertebrates on the western continental margin of Australia (100–1100 m depths): composition, distribution and novelty. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 80: 1–191.

[T72] Tendal, O. S. 1972. A monograph of the Xenophyophoria (Rhizopodea, Protozoa). Galathea Report 12: 7–99.