''Spongia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of marine

sponge 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 throug ...

s in the family Spongiidae, originally described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

in 1759, containing more than 60 species. Some species, including ''

Spongia officinalis ''Spongia officinalis'', better known as a variety of bath sponge, is a commercially used sea sponge. Individuals grow in large lobes with small openings and are formed by a mesh of primary and secondary fibers. It is light grey to black in color ...

'', are used as cleaning tools, but have mostly been replaced in that use by synthetic or plant material.

Classification

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Spongia'': ;Subgenus unassigned: * '' Spongia alpheushyatti'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * '' Spongia alpheusi'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * '' Spongia hyatti'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * '' Spongia jeanbaptistei'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * '' Spongia lacinulosa'' Lamarck, 1814 * '' Spongia lamarcki'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * †'' Spongia mantelli'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * '' Spongia muricata'' sensu Linnaeus, 1759 * '' Spongia solidahyatti'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * '' Spongia stellifera'' Lamarck, 1814 ;Subgenus ''Australospongia'' Cook & Bergquist, 2001 * '' Spongia gracilis'' Cook & Bergquist, 2001 ;Subgenus ''Heterofibria'' Cook & Bergquist, 2001 * '' Spongia catarinensis'' Mothes, Kasper, Lerner, Campos & Carraro, 2006 * '' Spongia corallina'' Kim & Sim, 2009 * '' Spongia corrugata'' Cook & Bergquist, 2001 * '' Spongia decooki'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * '' Spongia gorgonocephalus'' Cook & Bergquist, 2001 * '' Spongia manipulatus'' Cook & Bergquist, 2001 * '' Spongia mokohinau'' Cook & Bergquist, 2001 * '' Spongia peddemorsi'' Samaai, Pillay & Janson, 2020 * '' Spongia purpurea'' Kim & Sim, 2009 * '' Spongia smaragdus'' Samaai, Pillay & Janson, 2019 ;Subgenus ''Spongia'' * '' Spongia adjimensis'' (Topsent, 1925) * '' Spongia agaricina'' Pallas, 1766 * '' Spongia anclotea'' de Laubenfels & Storr, 1958 * '' Spongia arabica'' arabica Keller, 1889 * '' Spongia australis'' Bergquist, 1995 * '' Spongia bailyi'' (Lendenfeld, 1886) * '' Spongia barbara'' Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 * '' Spongia bibulus'' Rao, 1941 * '' Spongia brunnea'' Lévi, 1969 * '' Spongia cerebralis'' Thiele, 1905 * '' Spongia ceylonensis'' (Dendy, 1905) * '' Spongia coelosia'' Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 * '' Spongia conifera'' (Lendenfeld, 1886) * '' Spongia cookii'' Hyatt, 1877 * '' Spongia distans'' (Schulz, 1900) * '' Spongia excavata'' (Lendenfeld, 1889) * '' Spongia fistulosa'' (Lendenfeld, 1889) * '' Spongia fuscoides'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * '' Spongia graminea'' Hyatt, 1877 * '' Spongia hispida'' Lamarck, 1814 * '' Spongia hospes'' (Lendenfeld, 1889) * '' Spongia illawarra'' (Whitelegge, 1901) * '' Spongia lamella'' (Schulze, 1879) * '' Spongia lesleighae'' Helmy, El Serehy, Mohamed & van Soest, 2004 * '' Spongia lignea'' Hyatt, 1877 * '' Spongia lobosa'' (Poléjaeff, 1884) * '' Spongia magellanica'' Thiele, 1905 * '' Spongia matamata'' de Laubenfels, 1954 * '' Spongia mexicana'' Hyatt, 1877 * '' Spongia mollicula'' Hyatt, 1877 * '' Spongia mollissima'' Schmidt, 1862 * '' Spongia nicholsoni'' Hyatt, 1877 * '' Spongia nitens'' (Schmidt, 1862) * '' Spongia obliqua'' Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1864 * '' Spongia obscura'' Hyatt, 1877 * '' Spongia oceanica'' de Laubenfels, 1950 * ''

'' Linnaeus, 1759 * '' Spongia osculata'' (Lendenfeld, 1889) * '' Spongia osculosa'' (Lendenfeld, 1889) * '' Spongia perforata''(Lendenfeld, 1889) * '' Spongia pilosa'' (Wilson, 1902) * '' Spongia raoi'' Van Soest & Hooper, 2020 * '' Spongia reticulata'' (Lendenfeld, 1886) * '' Spongia solitaria'' Hyatt, 1877 * '' Spongia spinosa'' (Lendenfeld, 1888) * '' Spongia sterea'' de Laubenfels & Storr, 1958 * '' Spongia suriganensis'' (Wilson, 1925) * '' Spongia sweeti'' (Kirkpatrick, 1900) * '' Spongia tampa'' de Laubenfels & Storr, 1958 * '' Spongia tectoria'' Hyatt, 1877 * '' Spongia tenuiramosa'' (Dendy, 1905) * '' Spongia tubulifera'' Lamarck, 1814 * '' Spongia violacea'' Lévi, 1969 * '' Spongia virgultosa'' (Schmidt, 1868) * '' Spongia zimocca'' Schmidt, 1862

References

Spongiidae {{Demosponge-stub