The calcareous sponges[2][3] (class Calcarea) are members of the animal phylum Porifera, the cellular sponges. They are characterized by spicules made of calcium carbonate, in the form of high- magnesium calcite or aragonite.

Calcareous sponge, any of a class (Calcarea) of sponges characterized by skeletons composed entirely of calcium carbonate spicules (needlelike structures). Calcareous sponges occur mainly on the rocky bottoms of the continental shelves in temperate, shallow waters; they are usually dull in …

Class Calcarea includes sponges that are small in size and less colorful than other sponge classes. Calcareous sponges have spicules made of magnesium calcite (MgCO3), or may lack spicules altogether. The most common spicule shape are triactines with three pointed spires, which are shown in the figure below from Van Soest et al., 2012. They are ...

Calcareous sponges (Class Calcarea) include about 675 accepted extant species (Van Soest et al., 2011), which are exclusively marine. They occur mostly in shallow waters; only a few species are known from the deep sea (for an overview see, e.g. Rapp et al., 2011).

Calcareous sponges are sessile filter feeders, whose main diet is dissolved organic matter and small particulate matter (bacteria) filtered from seawater by pumping activity. Calcareous sponges have internal fertilization, with egg size ranging from 25 to 100 µm. They are sexual and viviparous, with some species probably asexual by budding.

Ex­clu­sively ma­rine and mainly in tem­per­ate re­gions, Cal­carea sponges are usu­ally found in shal­lower, shel­tered wa­ters less than 1000 m. In trop­i­cal re­gions they are as­so­ci­ated with coral reefs. (Wörheide, 2002) Cal­carea is the only class with as­conoid and syconoid con­struc­tion. All oth­ers have leu­conoid con­struc­tion.

The calcareous sponges of class Calcarea are members of the animal phylum Porifera, the cellular sponges. They are characterized by spicules made out of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite or aragonite.

Stromatoporoids (from ancient Greek stroma “bed,” and poros “passage”) are considered to be calcareous sponges. They are bottom-dwelling, sessile (nonmobile) marine invertebrate animals that build skeletons with thin layers of calcium carbonate …

The calcareous sponges of class Calcarea are members of the animal phylum Porifera, the cellular sponges. They are characterized by spicules made out of calcium carbonate. Typically, the Calcarea are very small, measuring about 7-10 cm (3-4 inches) in height. Of the 15,000 or so species of Porifera that exist, only 400 of those are Calcareans.

Sep 23, 2024 · The calcareous sponges of class Calcarea are members of the animal phylum Porifera, the cellular sponges. They are characterized by spicules made out of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite or aragonite.