''Clathrina helveola'' is a species of

calcareous sponge The calcareous sponges of 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 calcite or aragonite. While the spicules in most species hav ...

in the family Clathrinidae from Australia, found in coastal waters off Queensland. It was first described by

Gert Wörheide Gert Wörheide is a German marine biologist who works mainly on marine invertebrates. He earned his doctorate in geobiology from Georg-August-Universität, following this with a post-doctorate at Queensland Museum (1998-2002), where he worked ...

and John Hooper in 1999. The species name, ''helveola'', means "pale yellow" in Latin and refers to the species' colouration.

Description

The cormus in the massive holotype is delicate, formed of large, irregular and loosely anastomosed tubes. In some parts of the cormus, a thin cortex can be seen. Cells with granules are present. The skeleton has no special organization. It comprises equiangular and equiradiate triactines. Actines are conical and sharp, and slightly undulated at the tip.

References

Clathrina Animals described in 1999 Sponges of Australia Taxa named by John Hooper (marine biologist) Taxa named by Gert Wörheide {{calcarea-stub