Belongs within: Heteroscleromorpha.
Contains: Microcionidae, Acarnidae, Mycalidae, Guitarridae, Cladorhizidae, Coelosphaeridae, Hymedesmiidae, Tedaniidae, Myxillidae, Chondropsidae.
The Poecilosclerida are a group of demosponges with discrete organic and inorganic skeletons, with discrete siliceous spicules. All poeciloscleridans appear to be viviparous (Morrow & Cárdenas 2015).
Characters (Morrow & Cárdenas 2015): Both fibre and mineral skeletons always showing regional differentiation such that megascleres are often differentiated into distinct ectosomal and choanosomal components; microscleres including chelae, sigmas and sigmancistra derivatives, and other diverse forms such as toxas, raphides, microxeas, discorhabds or spinorhabds.
<==Poecilosclerida
| i. s.: AcantheuryponMC15
| EchinodictyinaeMC15
| |--AmphinomiaMC15
| |--EchinodictyumMC15
| | |--E. cancellatum (Lamarck 1814)MG-H11
| | |--E. clathrioides Hentschel 1911FS14
| | `--E. mesenterinum (Lamarck 1814)FS14
| `--CantabrinaMC15
| Trachytedania Ridley 1881SU21
|--MicrocioninaMC15
| |--MicrocionidaeMC15
| `--AcarnidaeMC15
|--Latrunculiidae [Latrunculina]MC15
| |--SceptrellaMC15
| |--CyclacanthiaMC15
| |--StrongylodesmaMC15
| |--TsitsikammaMC15
| `--Latrunculia du Bocage 1869SU21
| `--L. apicalisPP15
|--MycalinaFA10
| |--MycalidaeMC15
| |--GuitarridaeFA10
| |--CladorhizidaeMC15
| |--IsodictyidaeMC15
| | |--Coelocarteria singaporensis (Carter 1883)MC15, FS14
| | `--IsodictyaMC15
| |--EsperiopsidaeMC15
| | |--Esperiopsis digitataMC15, F79
| | |--Amphilectus pilosusMC15, K96
| | |--SemisuberitesMC15
| | `--Ulosa digitataMC15
| `--PodospongiidaeMC15
| |--DiplopodospongiaMC15
| |--NegombataMC15
| |--NeopodospongiaMC15
| |--PodospongiaMC15
| |--SceptrintusMC15
| |--SigmosceptrellaMC15
| `--DiacarnusMC15
| |--*D. spinipoculumMC15
| `--D. bismarckensisMC15
`--MyxillinaL01
|--CoelosphaeridaeL01
|--HymedesmiidaeMC15
|--TedaniidaeMC15
|--MyxillidaeNC15
|--ChondropsidaeMC15
|--PhellodermidaeMC15
| |--EchinostylinosMC15
| `--Phelloderma Ridley & Dendy 1886SU21
|--CrambeidaeMC15
| |--Crambe crambeMC15, F79
| |--Monanchora unguiculata (Dendy 1922)MC15, FV09
| `--DiscorhabdellaMC15
|--CrellidaeMC15
| |--CrellaPP15
| | |--C. elegansPP15
| | `--C. (Yvesia) spinulata (Hentschel 1911)FS14
| |--AnisocrellaMC15
| |--CrellastrinaMC15
| |--CrellomimaMC15
| `--SpirorhabdiaMC15
|--DendoricellidaeMC15
| |--FibuliaMC15
| |--DendoricellaMC15
| `--PylodermaMC15
|--DesmacididaeMC15
| |--Desmapsamma vervoorti Van Soest 1998MC15, V12
| |--Sideroderma navicelligerumK96
| `--DesmacidonMC15
| |--D. aegagropilaB30
| |--D. fragilis Kieschnick 1896K96
| |--D. fruticosaK96
| |--D. nodosus Kieschnick 1896K96
| `--D. ternatensis Kieschnick 1896K96
`--IotrochotidaeMC15
|--AmphiastrellaMC15
|--HymetrochotaMC15
|--IotroataMC15
|--IotrochopsammaMC15
|--RotuloplocamiaMC15
`--IotrochotaMC15
|--I. baculifera Ridley 1884MG-H11
|--I. coccinea (Carter 1886)FV09
`--I. purpurea (Bowerbank 1875)BJ06
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[BJ06] Barnich, R., & D. Janussen. 2006. Die Typen und Typoide des Naturmuseums Senckenberg, Nr. 86. Type catalogue of the Porifera in the collections of the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Senckenbergiana Biologica 86 (2): 127–144.
[B30] Bidder, G. P. 1930. On the classification of sponges. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 141: 44–47.
[FA10] Fromont, J., B. Alvarez, O. Gomez & E. Roberts. 2010. Tetrapocillon (Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida: Guitarridae) in Australia, with the description of a new species. Records of the Western Australian Museum 26 (1): 70–86.
[FS14] Fromont, J., & A. Sampey. 2014. Kimberley marine biota. Historical data: sponges (Porifera). Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 84: 69–100.
[FV09] Fromont, J., & M. A. Vanderklift. 2009. Porifera (sponges) of Mermaid, Scott and Seringapatam Reefs, north Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 77: 89–103.
[F79] Fry, W. G. 1979. Taxonomy, the individual and the sponge. In: Larwood, G., & B. R. Rosen (eds) Biology and Systematics of Colonial Organisms pp. 49–80. Academic Press: London.
Hooper, J. N. A., & R. W. M. Van Soest. 2002. Order Poecilosclerida Topsent, 1928. In: Hooper, J. N. A., & R. W. M. Van Soest (eds) Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges pp. 403–408. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers: New York.
[K96] Kieschnick, O. 1896. Silicispongiae von Ternate nach den Sammlungen von Herrn Prof. Dr. W. Kükenthal. Zoologischer Anzeiger 19: 526–534.
[L01] Lee, W. L. 2001. Four new species of Forcepia (Porifera, Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida, Coelosphaeridae) from California, and synonymy of Wilsa de Laubenfels, 1930, with Forcepia, Carter, 1874. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 52 (18): 227–244.
[MG-H11] McEnnulty, F. R., K. L. Gowlett-Holmes, A. Williams, F. Althaus, J. Fromont, G. C. B. Poore, T. D. O’Hara, L. Marsh, P. Kott, S. Slack-Smith, P. Alderslade & M. V. Kitahara. 2011. The deepwater megabenthic invertebrates on the western continental margin of Australia (100–1100 m depths): composition, distribution and novelty. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 80: 1–191.
[MC15] Morrow, C., & P. Cárdenas. 2015. Proposal for a revised classification of the Demospongiae (Porifera). Frontiers in Zoology 12: 7.
[PP15] Pisani, D., W. Pett, M. Dohrmann, R. Feuda, O. Rota-Stabelli, H. Philippe, N. Lartillot & G. Wörheide. 2015. Genomic data do not support comb jellies as the sister group to all other animals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 112 (50): 15402–15407.
[SU21] Santín, A., M.-J. Uriz, J. Cristobo, J. R. Xavier & P. Ríos. 2021. Unique spicules may confound species differentiation: taxonomy and biogeography of Melonanchora Carter, 1874 and two new related genera (Myxillidae: Poecilosclerida) from the Okhotsk Sea. PeerJ 9: e12515.
[V12] Voogd, N. J. de. 2012. On sand-bearing myxillid sponges, with a description of Psammochela tutiae sp. nov. (Poecilosclerida, Myxillina) from the northern Moluccas, Indonesia. Zootaxa 3155: 21–28.