Leuconia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Porifera |
Class: | Calcarea |
Order: | Baerida |
Family: | Baeriidae |
Genus: | Leuconia Grant, 1833 |
Species | |
See text | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Leuconia is a genus of calcareous sponges in the family Baeriidae. It was described by English anatomist and zoologist Robert Edmond Grant in 1833. [2]
The following species of Leuconia are accepted in the World Porifera database: [1]
Several other species formerly treated as part of Leuconia have been transferred to other genera, primarily Leucandra. [1]
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.
Clathrina is a genus of calcareous sponge in the family Clathrinidae. Several species formerly in Clathrina were transferred to the newly erected genera Arturia, Ernstia, Borojevia, and Brattegardia in 2013. The name is derived from the Latin word "clathratus" meaning "latticed".
Dendyidae is a family of calcareous sponges, which contains thirteen species in two genera.
Grantia is a genus of calcareous sponges belonging to the family Grantiidae. Species of the genus Grantia contain spicules and spongin fibers.
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.
Halichondriidae is a family of sea sponges belonging to the order Suberitida. These sponges have a skeleton consisting of dense bundles of spicules occurring in a more or less random pattern.
Halichondria is a genus of sea sponges belonging to the family Halichondriidae. These are massive, amorphous sponges with clearly separated inner and outer skeletons consisting of bundles of spicules arranged in a seemingly random pattern.
Axinella is a genus of sponges in the family Axinellidae first described in 1862 by Eduard Oscar Schmidt. Species of Axinella occur in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Most of these sponges are smaller than 20 cm, and have a yellow or orange colour.
Leucandra is a genus of calcareous sponge belonging to the family Grantiidae. Its earliest known fossils are from the Jurassic.
Clionaidae is a family of ectoparasitic demosponges which are found worldwide. This group of sponges are well known for boring holes in calcareous material such as mollusc shells and coral skeletons, using both chemical and mechanical processes.
Haliclona is a genus of demosponges in the family Chalinidae.
Ircinia is a genus of sea sponges in the family Irciniidae.
Homaxinella is a genus of sea sponges in the family Suberitidae. The type species is Homaxinella balfourensis.
Arturia is a genus of calcareous sponge in the family Clathrinidae which contains 14 species. It is named after Arthur Dendy, a prominent researcher of calcareous sponges. It was renamed Arturia in 2017 because the name Arthuria was already assigned to a genus of molluscs.
Baeriidae is a family of calcareous sponges in the class Calcarea. It was named by Borojevic, Boury-Esnault, and Vacelet in 2000. The type genus is BaeriaMiklucho-Maclay, 1870, by original designation, though Baeria is now considered a junior synonym of LeuconiaGrant, 1833.
Ciocalypta is a genus of sea sponges belonging to the family Halichondriidae.
Leucetta is a genus of sponges in the family Leucettidae, which was first described in 1872 by Ernst Haeckel. The type species is Leucetta primigenia Haeckel, 1872 by subsequent designation.
Acarnidae is a family of sponges belonging to the order Poecilosclerida. It has a global distribution, although several genera occur primarily in colder temperate waters, and several have very restricted ranges. It is estimated that there are several hundred species.
Raspailiidae is a family of sponges belonging to the order Axinellida.
Tetilla is a genus of demosponges in the family Tetillidae. It is widely distributed. They are mainly found in deeper habitats.