With the completion of a single unified classification, the Systema Porifera (SP) and
subsequent development of an online species database, the World Porifera Database …

Systematics is nowadays facing new challenges with the introduction of new concepts and
new techniques. Compared to most other phyla, phylogenetic relationships among sponges …

Sponges (phylum Porifera) are a diverse taxon of benthic aquatic animals of great
ecological, commercial, and biopharmaceutical importance. They are arguably the earliest …

Marine caves are widely acknowledged for their unique biodiversity and constitute a typical
feature of the Mediterranean coastline. Herein an attempt was made to evaluate the …

Sponges play a key role in Antarctic marine benthic community structure and dynamics and
are often a dominant component of many Southern Ocean benthic communities …

The current morphological classification of the Demospongiae G4 clade was tested using
large subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU rRNA) sequences from 119 taxa. Fifty-three …

Background Phylum Porifera includes∼ 8,500 valid species distributed world-wide in
aquatic ecosystems ranging from ephemeral fresh-water bodies to coastal environments …

The demosponge orders Dictyoceratida and Dendroceratida are historically assigned to the
keratose (or “horny”) sponges, which are mostly devoid of primary skeletal elements, but …

Calcareous sponges (Phylum Porifera, Class Calcarea) are known to be taxonomically
difficult. Previous molecular studies have revealed many discrepancies between classically …

Chemical diversity represents a measure of selective pressures acting on genotypic
variability. In order to understand patterns of chemical ecology and biodiversity in the …