Poecilosclerida is an order of the demosponge class. It is the most speciose demosponge order with over 2200 species (World Porifera Database[1]). It contains about 25 recognised families. They are characterised by having chelae microscleres, that is, the minute spicules scattered through the tissues, usually in the 10-60 μm range, have a shovel-like structure on the end.[2]
Most of the families are viviparous with parenchymella larvae that are uniformly ciliated.[2]
As of 2018, the following families are recognized: