Calcifibrospongiidae is a family of

sponges Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through ...

belonging to the order

Haplosclerida Haplosclerida is an order of demosponges. It contains the following families: * Calcifibrospongiidae Hartman, 1979 * Callyspongiidae de Laubenfels, 1936 * Chalinidae Gray, 1867 * Niphatidae Van Soest, 1980 * Petrosiidae Petrosiidae is a fami ...

. The order Haplosclerida is distinguished by isodictyal skeleton (mesh shaped fibres). In general, Porifera are basal animals with bodies full of pores and channels. Calcifibrospongiidae includes the species ''Calcifibrospongia actinostromarioides''. There have only been ten recorded occurrences of this species: in

Hogsty Reef Hogsty Reef is an uninhabited coral atoll located in the southern Bahamas. It is located between Great Inagua (to the South) and Acklins Island (to the North). Geography and navigation It is a 5×3 mile coral atoll rising up from 6,000 ft ...

and

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

, as well as in the subtropics of the Bahamas.

Description

Calcifibrospongiidae are sclerosponges, with a basal skeleton made out of calcium carbonate, which encloses the sponge tissue. Scelorsponge skeletons are

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

, causing this family to be classified because of its

spicule 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 ( ...

skeleton. Sclerosponges are

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

forms of sponges that originated from

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

groups. They have derived from two possible sources; the first being from the desmosponges during the Paleozoic and in recent ages diverged into several other groups or from lineages of desmosponges that came together through hypercalcificaiton. The sponge is orange in color, hard, and possesses an encrusting plate. The sponge is described to be tannish-orange underwater in ambient light and reddish-orange at surface level.Hartman, W D. “A new sclerosponge from the Bahamas and its relationship to Mesozoic stromatoporoids.” (1979). It is mushroom-shaped, with a smooth surface.Van Soest, Rob WM, and John NA Hooper. "Order Haplosclerida Topsent, 1928." ''Systema Porifera''. Springer, Boston, MA, 2002. 831-832. It is covered in oscules which are regularly scattered to provide a means for water to pass through. Additionally, the organism’s spicules are siliceous strongyles and reticulate in shape. The siliceous strongyles are held together by

spongin Spongin, a modified type of collagen protein, forms the fibrous skeleton of most organisms among the phylum Porifera, the sponges. It is secreted by sponge cells known as spongocytes. Spongin gives a sponge its flexibility. True spongin is found ...

fibres and the calcareous skeleton sits around this structure. This skeleton supports the soft parts of the sponge.

Life History

Calcifibrospongiidae are hermaphroditic, meaning they contain both male and female reproductive organs. They reproduce sexually, whereby the spermatocysts escape from the sponge via the

osculum The osculum (plural "oscula") is an excretory structure in the living sponge, a large opening to the outside through which the current of water exits after passing through the spongocoel. Wastes diffuse into the water and the water is pumped thr ...

.Ereskovskii, A. V. "Development of sponges of the order Haplosclerida." ''Russian Journal of Marine Biology'' 25.5 (1999): 361-371. Sponges of the same species then capture the sperm and transport them to the eggs of the sponge via achaeocytes. Fertilization takes place in the mesenchyme of the sponge. They then produce zygotes that develop into free-swimming

parenchymella Parenchymella is a type of larva of a demosponge Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). T ...

larvae. These larvae then settle on a substrate and grow into their adult sponge form. The sponge is sciaphilous, which means it is tolerant of shade. To date, the shallowest specimen found was collected on a reef at

Acklins island Acklins is an island and district of the Bahamas. It is one of a group of islands arranged along a large, shallow lagoon called the Bight of Acklins, of which the largest are Crooked Island () in the north and Acklins () in the southeast, and ...

in the Bahamas at a depth of by W.M. Goldberg. It was described as large ( across and high). The largest specimen found was found south of Lucaya, Grand Bahama at in depth. Calcifibrospongiidae feed through

filter feeding 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 ...

. They transfer nutrients that are suspended in the water surrounding them and filter out the nutrients they do not want. Poriferans feed on plankton and organic particles. It has not been recorded whether or not Calcifibrospongiidae are able to move, although the larvae are motile.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q20735996 Haplosclerida