Tetillidae

Golf-ball sponge Cinachyra sp., copyright Nick Hobgood.

Belongs within: Democlavia.

The Tetillidae, golf-ball sponges, are a widespread group of mostly globular demosponges.

Characters (from Van Soest & Rützler 2002): Typically with spherical growth form, often with characteristic pits (porocalices) containing inhalant and occasionally also exhalant orifices. Cortical region often strengthened by collagen fibers and special cortical megascleres, but may be thin or absent. Skeleton with tetraxonic and monaxonic megascleres (triaenes, huge oxeas) organized in radiate pattern of spicule bundles, often spiralling outwards from centre of body; oxeas, protriaenes and anatriaenes most common, often protruding from surface producing conulose or hairy surface. Porocalices, if present, forming palisade of long spicules, protruding far beyond sponge surface, surrounding porefields or oscular apertures lying in rounded depressions. Microscleres contorted microspined sigmaspires. Reproduction oviparous without larval stage, or viviparous with production of young adults within parent.

Tetillidae [Spirophorida]
    |--Paratetilla aruensis Hentschel 1912 BJ06
    |--Cinachyrella australiensis (Carter 1886) MG-H11
    |--Tetilla MG-H11
    |    |--T. bacca (Selenka 1867) [incl. T. ternatensis Kieschnick 1896] BJ06
    |    `--T. japonica C-SC03
    `--Cinachyra Sollas 1886 SV86
         |--C. australiensis Carter 1881 FV09
         |--C. mertoni Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |--C. nuda Hentschel 1912 BJ06
         |--C. subterranea Van Soest & Sass 1981 SV86
         `--C. vertex von Lendenfeld 1907 BJ06

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BJ06] Barnich, R., & D. Janussen. 2006. Die Typen und Typoide des Naturmuseums Senckenberg, Nr. 86. Type catalogue of the Porifera in the collections of the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Senckenbergiana Biologica 86 (2): 127–144.

[C-SC03] Cavalier-Smith, T., & E. E.-Y. Chao. 2003. Phylogeny of Choanozoa, Apusozoa, and other Protozoa and early eukaryote megaevolution. Journal of Molecular Evolution 56: 540–563.

[FV09] Fromont, J., & M. A. Vanderklift. 2009. Porifera (sponges) of Mermaid, Scott and Seringapatam Reefs, north Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 77: 89–103.

[MG-H11] McEnnulty, F. R., K. L. Gowlett-Holmes, A. Williams, F. Althaus, J. Fromont, G. C. B. Poore, T. D. O'Hara, L. Marsh, P. Kott, S. Slack-Smith, P. Alderslade & M. V. Kitahara. 2011. The deepwater megabenthic invertebrates on the western continental margin of Australia (100–1100 m depths): composition, distribution and novelty. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 80: 1–191.

Van Soest, R. W. M., & K. Rützler. 2002. Family Tetillidae Sollas, 1886. In: Hooper, J. N. A., & R. W. M. Van Soest. 2002. Systema Porifera: A guide to the classification of sponges pp. 85–98. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers: New York.

[SV86] Van Soest, R. W. M., & M. Velikonja. 1986. Porifera. In: Botosaneanu, L. (ed.) Stygofauna Mundi: A Faunistic, Distributional, and Ecological Synthesis of the World Fauna inhabiting Subterranean Waters (including the Marine Interstitial) pp. 30–32. E. J. Brill/Dr. W. Backhuys: Leiden.