''Agelas'' is a genus of sea sponge in the class Demospongiae.

Ecology and distribution

Members of this genus are

filter feeder Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...

s. and occur in the West Indies, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in shallow tropical and subtropical waters down to a depth of or exceptionally .

Spicules

Some authorities report that the spongin fibres contain no coring

spicules Spicules are any of various small needle-like anatomical structures occurring in organisms Spicule may also refer to: *Spicule (sponge), small skeletal elements of sea sponges *Spicule (nematode), reproductive structures found in male nematodes ( ...

while others report that there are some of variable length. Fernando Parra-Velandia however, describing the Caribbean species in the group, writes that "The presence of verticillated acanthostyle spicules and a fibroreticulate skeleton of spongin fibres cored and/or echinated by spicules characterize this group."

Species

The World Register of Marine Species includes the following species in the genus:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2826531 Agelasida Sponge genera