Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide. They are sponges with a soft body that covers a hard, often massive skeleton made of calcium carbonate, either aragonite or calcite. They are predominantly leuconoid in structure. Their "skeletons" are made of spicules consisting of fibers of the protein spongin, the mineral silica, or both. Where spicules of silica are present, they have a different shape from those in the otherwise similar glass sponges. Some species, in particular from the Antarctic, obtain the silica for spicule building from the ingestion of siliceous diatoms.
Agelas clathrodes, also known as the orange elephant ear sponge, is a species of sea sponge. It lives on reefs in the Caribbean, usually more than 10 metres (33 ft) below the surface of the ocean. It takes various forms, and its color is reddish orange.
Leuconia is a genus of calcareous sponges in the family Baeriidae. It was described by English anatomist and zoologist Robert Edmond Grant in 1833.
Trichogypsia is a genus of calcareous sponges in the order Baerida.
Thoosa is a genus of sea sponges in the family Thoosidae. This genus is known for boring holes in corals. It contains sixteen described species.
Homaxinella is a genus of sea sponges in the family Suberitidae. The type species is Homaxinella balfourensis.
Agelas is a genus of sea sponge in the class Demospongiae.
Mycale laevis, the orange icing sponge or orange undercoat sponge, is a species of marine demosponge in the family Mycalidae. Mycale is a large genus and this species is placed in the subgenus Mycale making its full name, Mycale (Mycale) laevis. This sponge is found in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and usually grows in association with one of a small number of species of coral.
Trachycladidae is a family of sea sponges in the subclass Heteroscleromorpha. It is the only family in the monotypic order Trachycladida.
Dragmacidon australe is a species of sponge in the family, Axinellidae.
Axinella damicornis, known as yellow sponge and crumpled duster sponge, is a marine sponge in the family Axinellidae, first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1794 as Spongia damicornis. It occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic, generally found at depths up to 120 m (390 ft), but has also been found much deeper.
Cymbastela coralliophila is a species of marine sponge in the family Axinellidae.
Phycopsis is a genus of sponges belonging to the family Axinellidae. The species of this genus are found in Malesia and Australia.
Pipestela is a genus of sponges belonging to the family Axinellidae. The species of this genus are found in Australian waters, New Guinea and other countries to the north of Australia.
Pipestela rara is a species of sponge belonging to the family Axinellidae.
Pipestela occidentalis is a species of sponge belonging to the family Axinellidae.
Pipestela terpenensis is a species of sponge belonging to the family Axinellidae.
Robertus Wilhelmus Maria (Rob) van Soest, born in 1946, is a Dutch marine biologist. He works at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and is also affiliated with the University of Amsterdam. He co-authored with John N. A. Hooper Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges, a standard reference for sponge classification.
Svenzea zeai is a species of sponge belonging to the family Scopalinidae, first described in 1998 as Pseudaxinella zeai. The species epithet, zeai, honours the Colombian spongiologist Sven Zea who first collected it.
