Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera, are a basal Metazoa (animal) clade as a sister of the Diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them, consisting of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. The branch of zoology that studies sponges is known as spongiology.
Demospongiae is 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.
Polymastia is a genus of sea sponges containing about 30 species. These are small to large encrusting or dome-shaped sponges with a smooth surface having many teat-shaped projections (papillae). In areas of strong wave action, this genus does not grow the teat structures, but instead grows in a corrugated form.
Dame Patricia Rose Bergquist was a New Zealand zoologist who specialised in anatomy and taxonomy. At the time of her death, she was professor emerita of zoology and honorary professor of anatomy with radiology at the University of Auckland.
Polymastiidae is a family of demosponges found in oceans throughout the world. I is the only family in the monotypic order Polymastiida. A useful diagnostic characteristic of members of this family is the presence of numerous surface papillae although this feature is shown by some other sponges.
Tylexocladus is a genus of deep-water sea sponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. These are small rounded sponges with a bristly surface bearing one or more raised openings.
Acanthopolymastia is a small genus of demosponges belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It has three describe species. These small, bristly, cushion-shaped sponges are only known from deep-sea sites in the southern oceans.
Polymastia tapetum is a species of demosponges belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is found in shallow subtidal and intertidal habitats in the far north of North Island, New Zealand.
Polymastia lorum is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is only known from a single specimen found attached to a dead Glycimeris valve on a reef near Ohinau Island, one of the Mercury Islands off North Island, New Zealand.
Polymastia echinus is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is only known from shallow subtidal habitats off Goat Island in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand.
Polymastia umbraculum is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is only known from rocky subtidal habitats around Kawau Island off the North Island of New Zealand.
Polymastia aurantia is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is found in intertidal habitats including tide pools in the vicinity of Auckland, New Zealand.
Tylexocladus villosus is a species of demosponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is found in rocky deep-sea habitats around the Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
Acanthopolymastia acanthoxa is a species of demosponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is a deep-ocean species found on muddy substrates at depths of over 3000 m in the Ross Sea, Antarctica.
Acanthopolymastia bathamae is a species of demosponge belonging to the family Polymastiidae. It is only known from the Papanui Submarine Canyon off Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand.
Spongia officinalis, better known as bath sponge, is a commercially used sponge. It is found throughout the Mediterranean Sea.
Tectitethya crypta is a species of demosponge belonging to the family Tethyidae. It is a massive, shallow-water sponge found in the Caribbean Sea. Oftentimes, it is covered in sand and algae.
Thorectidae is a family of sea sponges in the order Dictyoceratida.
Luffariella is a genus of sponges in the family Thorectidae.
