Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include greater than 90% 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.
Geodia gibberosa, commonly known as the white encrusting sponge, is a species of sea sponge found in the Caribbean. It is eaten by hawksbill turtles. It was first described by Lamarck in 1815.
Geodia is a genus of sea sponge belonging to the family Geodiidae. It is the type genus of its taxonomic family.
Clathrina jorunnae is a species of calcareous sponge from Norway. It is only known from Trondheimsfjord, its type locality, where it was dredged from depths of 25–250 m (82–820 ft). The specimen was attached to a bryozoan of the genus Reteporella. The species is named after Jorunn Berg, Hans Tore Rapp's grandmother, who introduced Rapp to marine animals.
Clathrina lacunosa is a species of calcareous sponge from the British Isles. The species name means "having holes" and refers to the perforations found in the sides of the sponge. It is usually found on vertical solid surfaces at depths down to 220 m. It is distributed in the north-eastern Atlantic from the Arctic to the Mediterranean. It is a fairly common sponge but is often overlooked due to its small size.
Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges. The meshing of many spicules serves as the sponge's skeleton and thus it provides structural support and potentially defense against predators.
Geodiidae is a family of sea sponges.
Poecilosclerida is an order of the demosponge class. It is the most speciose demosponge order with over 2200 species. It contains about 25 recognised families. They are characterised by having chelae microscleres, that is, the minute spicules scattered through the tissues, usually in the 10-60 μm range, have a shovel-like structure on the end.
Cladorhizidae is a family of carnivorous demosponges found in deep-sea environments worldwide. These sponges are known for their unique feeding structures and predatory behavior, as they capture and consume small animals such as crustaceans.
Geodia barretti is a massive deep-sea sponge species found in the boreal waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is fairly common on the coasts of Norway and Sweden. It is a dominant species in boreal sponge grounds. Supported by morphology and molecular data, this species is classified in the family Geodiidae.
Sponge grounds, also known as sponge aggregations, are intertidal to deep-sea habitats formed by large accumulations of sponges, often dominated by a few massive species. Sponge grounds were already reported more than 150 years ago, but the habitat was first fully recognized, studied and described in detail around the Faroe Islands during the inter-Nordic BIOFAR 1 programme 1987–90. These were called Ostur by the local fishermen and this name has to some extent entered the scientific literature. Sponge grounds were later found elsewhere in the Northeast Atlantic and in the Northwest Atlantic, as well as near Antarctica. They are now known from many other places worldwide and recognized as key marine habitats.
Rossellidae is a family of glass sponges belonging to the order Lyssacinosa. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution and is found at a large range of depths.
Geodia atlantica is a species of sponge in the family Geodiidae. It is found in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Geodia hentscheli is a species of sponge in the family Geodiidae. It is found in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. The species was described in 2010 by Paco Cárdenas, Hans Tore Rapp, Christoffer Schander & Ole S. Tendal.
Geodia nodastrella is a species of sponge in the family Geodiidae. It is found in the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. The species was first described by Henry John Carter in 1876.
Bolosoma is a genus of pedunculated siliceous sponges belonging to the family Euplectellidae. This genus lives in deep-sea environments and provides a habitat for a plethora of other benthic species, giving Bolosoma an incredibly important ecological role in the ecosystems it is a part of.
Inflatella belli, or the gooseberry sponge, is a species of demosponge that appears to be restricted to the southern hemisphere, where it is widespread. It occurs from the coast of Namibia and the Indo-pacific, down to the Subantarctic and Antarctic regions.
Suberites dandelenae, the amorphous solid sponge, is a species of deep-sea demosponge from South Africa and Namibia.
Abyssocladia is a genus of the family Cladorhizidae, a family of carnivorous sponges. It is made up of at least 39 species found in oceans all over the world.
