Class CALCAREA Bowerbank, 1862

Calcarea: Leucosoleniidae

Museums

Museum list

Regional Maps

Class CALCAREA Bowerbank, 1862

Compiler and date details

2012 - John N.A. Hooper, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia(1994, updated 1999, 2004, 2012); Felix Wiedenmayer Naturhistorisches Museum Basel, Basel, Switzerland (1994)

Calcarea Bowerbank, J.S. 1862. On the Anatomy and Physiology of the Spongiadae. Part II. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 152(2): 747-829 [plates XXVII-XXXV].
Calcispongia Johnston, G. 1842. A History of British Sponges and Lithophytes. Edinburgh : W.H. Lizars pp. i-xii, 1-264, pls I-XXV.
Secondary source:
Manuel, M., Borojevic, R., Boury-Esnault, N. & Vacelet, J. 2002. Class Calcarea Bowerbank, 1864. pp. 1103-1110 in Hooper, J.N.A. & Soest, R.W.M. Van (eds). Systema Porifera. A guide to the classification of sponges. New York : Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers Vol. 2. [1103].
Calcispongiae Schmidt, E.O. 1862. Die Spongien des Adriatischen Meeres. Leipzig : Engelmann 88 pp. 7 pls.

Diagnosis

Marine Porifera in which the mineral skeleton is composed entirely of calcium carbonate. The skeleton is composed of free diactine, triactine, tetractine and/or polyactine spicules, to which can be added a solid basal calcitic skeleton with basal spicules either cemented together or completely embedded in an enveloping calcareous cement. The aquiferous system can be asconoid, syconoid, sylleibid or leuconoid. Members of the Calcarea are viviparous and their larvae are blastulae.

ID Keys

KEY TO ORDERS OF CALCINEA AND CALCARONEA
(1) Regular (equiangular and equiradiate) triactines and tetractines, choanocytes basinucleate with spherical nuclei------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(Calcinea)--------2
Sagittal triactines & tetractines, choanocytes apinucleate-------------------(Calcaronea)---------3

(2) Skeleton composed exclusively of free spicules------------------------------------------------Clathrinida
Reinforcement of the skeleton composed of either spicule tracts, calcareous plates or a rigid nonspicular skeleton. Diapasons or modified diactines present and generally fasciculated------------------------------------------Murrayonida

(3) Skeleton composed exclusively of free spicules--------------------------------------------------------------4
Reinforcement of the skeleton consisting either of linked or cemented basal actines of tetractines, or of a rigid basal mass of calcite. Diapason spicules generally present. Aquiferous system leuconoid----------------------------------Lithonida

(4) Skeleton either composed exclusively of microdiactines or in which microdiactines constitute exclusively or predominantly a specific sector of the skeleton. Large or giant spicules frequently present in the cortical skeleton. Dagger-shaped small tetractines (pugioles) frequently the sole skeleton of the exhalant aquiferous system. Aquiferous system leuconoid------------------------------------------------------------------------Baerida
Free spicules diactines, sagittal triactines/tetractines. Aquiferous system asconoid, syconoid, sylleibid or leuconoid------------------------------------------------------------Leucosolenida