Calcarea
Calcarea
[kal′kar·ē·ə] (invertebrate zoology)
A class of the phylum Porifera, including sponges with a skeleton composed of calcium carbonate spicules.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Calcarea
(or Calcispongiae), an order of marine invertebrate sponges. The skeleton of these sponges is formed from three-rayed, four-rayed, or uniaxial calcareous spicules. The structure of the canal system varies; all three types are encountered (ascon, sycon, and leucon). The Calcarea are small (usually no more than 7 cm high) individual or colonial animals. The body often has a tubular or barrel-like shape. The sponges live mainly in shallow waters. There are approximately 100 species in the order. There are more than ten species in the Soviet seas; the most common genera are Leucosolenia, Sycon, and Leucandra.
REFERENCES
Rukovodstvo po zoologii, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1937.Burton, M. A Revision of the Classification of the Calcareous Sponges.London, 1963.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.