Halichondria Explained
Halichondria is a genus of sea sponges belonging to the family Halichondriidae.[1] These are massive, amorphous sponges with clearly separated inner and outer skeletons consisting of bundles of spicules arranged in a seemingly random pattern.
This genus of sponges became important through the discovery of cell division limiting properties of the extract Halichondrin B, which inhibits cell mitosis. The drug Eribulin, a related compound and an inhibitor of microtubule function, has become an important chemotherapy treatment for certain types of cancer.
Species
The following species are recognised in the genus Halichondria:
- Subgenus Eumastia Schmidt, 1870
- Subgenus Halichondria Fleming, 1828
- Halichondria adelpha de Laubenfels, 1954
- Halichondria agglomerans Cabioch, 1968
- Halichondria aldabrensis Lévi, 1961
- Halichondria almae (Carballo, Uriz & García-Gómez, 1996)
- Halichondria arenacea Dendy, 1895
- Halichondria arenosa Hentschel, 1929
- Halichondria axinelloides Swartschewsky, 1906
- Halichondria bowerbanki Burton, 1930
- Halichondria brondstedi De Laubenfels, 1936
- Halichondria brunnea (Schmidt, 1868)
- Halichondria cancellosa (Carter, 1886)
- Halichondria capensis Samaai & Gibbons, 2005
- Halichondria carotenoidea Alvarez & Hooper, 2011
- Halichondria cartilaginea (Esper, 1794)
- Halichondria cebimarensis Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
- Halichondria coerulea Bergquist, 1967
- Halichondria colossea Lundbeck, 1902
- Halichondria contorta (Sarà, 1961)
- Halichondria convolvens Sarà, 1960
- Halichondria cornuloides Burton, 1954
- Halichondria cristata Sarà, 1978
- Halichondria cylindrata Tanita & Hoshino, 1989
- Halichondria darwinensis Hooper, Cook, Hobbs & Kennedy, 1997
- Halichondria diazae Van Soest & Hooper, 2020
- Halichondria diversispiculata Burton, 1930
- Halichondria dubia (Czerniavsky, 1880)
- Halichondria elenae Gastaldi, De Paula, Narvarte, Lôbo-Hajdu & Hajdu, 2018
- Halichondria fallax (Marshall, 1892)
- Halichondria flexuosa (Sarà, 1978)
- Halichondria foetida (Wilson, 1894)
- Halichondria foraminosa (Czerniavsky, 1880)
- Halichondria fragilis Kieschnick, 1896
- Halichondria gageoenesis Kang & Sim, 2008
- Halichondria genitrix (Schmidt, 1870)
- Halichondria gilvus Samaai & Gibbons, 2005
- Halichondria glabrata Keller, 1891
- Halichondria heterorrhaphis Breitfuss, 1912
- Halichondria intermedia Brøndsted, 1924
- Halichondria isthmica (Keller, 1883)
- Halichondria japonica (Kadota, 1922)
- Halichondria knowltoni Bergquist, 1961
- Halichondria labiata Hentschel, 1929
- Halichondria lambei Brøndsted, 1933
- Halichondria lendenfeldi Lévi, 1961
- Halichondria leuconoides Topsent, 1890
- Halichondria longispicula (Czerniavsky, 1880)
- Halichondria lutea Alcolado, 1984
- Halichondria magniconulosa Hechtel, 1965
- Halichondria marianae Santos, Nascimento & Pinheiro, 2018
- Halichondria melanadocia Laubenfels, 1936
- Halichondria membranacea (Sarà, 1978)
- Halichondria microbiana Alvarez & Hooper, 1911
- Halichondria migottea Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
- Halichondria minuta Keller, 1891
- Halichondria modesta (Pulitzer-Finali, 1986)
- Halichondria moorei Bergquist, 1961
- Halichondria muanensis Kang & Sim, 2008
- Halichondria nigrocutis (Carter, 1886)
- Halichondria normani Burton, 1930
- Halichondria oblonga (Hansen, 1885)
- Halichondria okadai (Kadota, 1922)
- Halichondria osculum Lundbeck, 1902
- Halichondria oshoro Tanita, 1961
- Halichondria oxiparva (Sarà, 1978)
- Halichondria panicea (Pallas, 1766)
- Halichondria papillaris (Pallas, 1766)
- Halichondria pelliculata Ridley & Dendy, 1886
- Halichondria phakellioides Dendy & Frederick, 1924
- Halichondria poa (de Laubenfels, 1947)
- Halichondria pontica (Czerniavsky, 1880)
- Halichondria prostrata Thiele, 1905
- Halichondria punctata Bergquist, 1970
- Halichondria renieroides (Fristedt, 1887)
- Halichondria semitubulosa (Lamarck, 1814)
- Halichondria solidior (Schmidt, 1870)
- Halichondria stylata Diaz, Pomponi & Van Soest, 1993
- Halichondria suberosa (Esper, 1794)
- Halichondria sulfurea Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
- Halichondria surrubicunda Hoshino, 1981
- Halichondria syringea Pulitzer-Finali, 1996
- Halichondria tenebrica Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
- Halichondria tenuiramosa Dendy, 1922
- Halichondria tenuispiculata Brøndsted, 1916
- Halichondria turritella (Schmidt, 1870)
- Halichondria velamentosa (Hansen, 1885)
- Subgenus unassigned
- Halichondria albescens sensu Johnston, 1842
- Halichondria flava (Merejkowski, 1878)
- Halichondria hongdoenesis Kang & Sim, 2008
- Halichondria kelleri Van Soest & Hooper, 2020
- Halichondria lona Laubenfels, 1936
- Halichondria magellanica Dendy, 1924
- Halichondria ulleungensis Kang & Sim, 2008
Notes and References
- Web site: A systematic revision of the central West Atlantic: Halichondrida (Demospongiae, Porifera). Part III: Description of valid species . 2007-10-30 . 2015-09-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924033137/http://www.icm.csic.es/scimar/pdf/57/sm57n4283.pdf . dead .
