Genus Caulospongia Saville Kent, 1871

Museums

Regional Maps

• Caulospongia Saville-Kent, W. 1871. On a genus of sponges from North Australia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1871: 615-616 [616].

  Type species:

   Caulospongia verticillata Saville Kent, 1871 by subsequent designation, see Hallmann, E.F. 1914. A revision of the monaxonid species described as new in Lendenfeld's 'Catalogue of the sponges in the Australian Museum'. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 39(Part 1): 263–315 1 fig. pls 15–24 [306].
• Plectodendron Lendenfeld, R. von 1888. Descriptive Catalogue of the Sponges in the Australian Museum, Sydney. London : Taylor & Francis 260 pp. 12 pls. [66].

  Type species:

   Plectodendron elegans Lendenfeld, 1888 by monotypy.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Hallmann, E.F. 1914. A revision of the monaxonid species described as new in Lendenfeld's 'Catalogue of the sponges in the Australian Museum'. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 39(Part 1): 263–315 1 fig. pls 15–24 [306]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IMCRA

Northwest Shelf Province (27), Central Western Shelf Transition (28), Central Western Shelf Province (29), Southwest Shelf Transition (30), Southwest Shelf Province (31), Great Australian Bight Shelf Transition (32), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), Northwest Province (4), Northeast Shelf Province (40), Northeast Shelf Transition (41), Central Western Transition (5)

Diagnosis

Erect sponges with solid stem and either a lobed or interlocking, reticulate branching habit or forming erect fans. Choanosomal skeleton is a plumo-reticulate or reticulate system of spicule tracts; interstitial spicules are frequent. Ectosomal skeleton consists of brushes of spicules covered by a narrow or diffuse layer of spicules parallel to the surface. Spicules relatively small tylostyles with distinct flattened tyles in a single size category. No microscleres. The genus is exclusively Australian in distribution and contains eight species.

ID Keys

See Family Suberitidae Diagnosis.

General References

Fromont, J. 1998. Revision of the marine sponge genus Caulospongia Saville Kent, 1871 (Demospongiae: Hadromerida). Part 1. Morphological and skeletal characters. Records of the Western Australian Museum 19: 65-89 [67]

History of changes