Belongs within: Heteroscleromorpha.
The Spongillidae are one of the few groups of sponges found in fresh water. Other than their freshwater habit, they are characterised by the production of resistant propagatory structures called gemmules. Formed from a cluster of amoeboid cells enveloped in hardened membranes, gemmules are able to withstand freezing and/or desiccation, releasing cells to form a new sponge when conditions allow.
<==Spongillidae |--Radiospongilla cerebellataG88 |--PectispongillaG88 |--AnheteromeyeniaMC15 |--CorvoheteromeyeniaMC15 |--DosiliaMC15 |--DuoscleraMC15 |--HeteromeyeniaMC15 |--HeterotulaMC15 |--NudospongillaMC15 |--PachyrotulaMC15 |--PottsielaMC15 |--RacekielaMC15 |--SanidastraMC15 |--SaturnospongillaMC15 |--StratospongillaMC15 |--TrochospongillaMC15 |--UmborotulaMC15 |--UruguayellaMC15 |--CarteriasB50 |--EphydatiaSV86 | |--E. fluviatilisSV86 | `--E. muelleri (Lieberkühn 1855)SV86 |--CorvospongillaMC15 | |--C. loricataPB27 | |--C. micramphidiscoidesPB27 | `--C. scabrispiculisPB27 |--EunapiusSV86 | |--E. aetheriae [=Spongilla (Eunapius) aetheriae]PB27 | |--E. fragilis (Leidy 1851)SV86 | `--E. subterraneus Sket & Velikonja 1985SV86 | |--E. s. subterraneusSV86 | `--E. s. mollisparspanis Sket & Velikonja 1985SV86 `--SpongillaC-SC03 |--S. albaPP15 |--S. cenota Penney & Racek 1968SV86 |--S. friabilisR26 |--S. lacustrisC-SC03 |--S. (Stratospongilla) schubotziPB27 `--S. sumatranaPB27
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[B50] Brooks, J. L. 1950. Speciation in ancient lakes. Quarterly Review of Biology 25: 30–60.
[C-SC03] Cavalier-Smith, T., & E. E.-Y. Chao. 2003. Phylogeny of Choanozoa, Apusozoa, and other Protozoa and early eukaryote megaevolution. Journal of Molecular Evolution 56: 540–563.
[G88] Gray, J. 1988. Evolution of the freshwater ecosystem: the fossil record. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 62: 1–214.
[MC15] Morrow, C., & P. Cárdenas. 2015. Proposal for a revised classification of the Demospongiae (Porifera). Frontiers in Zoology 12: 7.
[PB27] Pilsbry, H. A., & J. Bequaert. 1927. The aquatic mollusks of the Belgian Congo, with a geographical and ecological account of Congo malacology. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 53 (2): 69–602, pls 10–77.
[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.
[R26] Risso, A. 1826. Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l’Europe méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes vol. 5. F.-G. Levrault: Paris.
[SV86] Soest, R. W. M. van, & M. Velikonja. 1986. Porifera. In: Botosaneanu, L. (ed.) Stygofauna Mundi: A Faunistic, Distributional, and Ecological Synthesis of the World Fauna inhabiting Subterranean Waters (including the Marine Interstitial) pp. 30–32. E. J. Brill/Dr W. Backhuys: Leiden.