STELLIGERIDAE LENDENFELD, 1898

Morrow, Christine, Cárdenas, Paco, Boury-Esnault, Nicole, Picton, Bernard, Mccormack, Grace, Soest, Rob Van, Collins, Allen, Redmond, Niamh, Maggs, Christine, Sigwart, Julia & Allcock, Louise A., 2019, Integrating morphological and molecular taxonomy with the revised concept of Stelligeridae (Porifera: Demospongiae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 187, pp. 31-81 : 44

FAMILY STELLIGERIDAE LENDENFELD, 1898

Emended diagnosis: Axinellida in which the choanaosomal skeleton can be composed of styles, tylostyles, oxeas or rhabdostyles. Ectosomal region often with protruding megascleres surrounded by bouquets of smaller, slender accessory oxeas or styles. Ectosomal crust heavily reinforced with microscleres. Accessory oxeas often with centrotylote swellings, occasionally with fissurate terminations. Microscleres can be smooth-rayed euasters; spined microxeas often bent or centrangulate or acanthose cladotoxas and birotules. Where known, reproduction is oviparous. Presence of cells with granular inclusions in most species. All produce slime on collection.

Included genera: Acanthoclada Bergquist, 1970 (p. 22, pl. 5b, pl. 10a,f, pl. 16a,b); Halicnemia Bowerbank, 1864 (p. 184); Higginsia Higgin, 1877 (p. 291); Paratimea Hallmann, 1917 (p. 675); Plenaster Lim & Wiklund, 2017 (although see remarks below); Stelligera Gray, 1867 (p. 545).

Type genus: Stelligera Gray, 1867 .

Remarks: A detailed description of the morphological characters that unite Stelligeridae is given in the Discussion. The molecular trees of Lim et al. (2017) clearly show that Plenaster is not a stelligerid; the taxonomic affinities of this genus will be part of a future manuscript.