Halichondria is a genus of sea sponges belonging to the family Halichondriidae. 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 <small>Schmidt, 1870</small>
- Halichondria attenuata <small>(Topsent, 1915)</small>
- Halichondria maraensis <small>Kim & Sim, 2009</small>
- Halichondria schmidti <small>Dendy, 1895</small>
- Halichondria sitiens <small>(Schmidt, 1870)</small>
- Subgenus Halichondria <small>Fleming, 1828</small>
- Halichondria adelpha <small>de Laubenfels, 1954</small>
- Halichondria agglomerans <small>Cabioch, 1968</small>
- Halichondria aldabrensis <small>Lévi, 1961</small>
- Halichondria almae <small>(Carballo, Uriz & GarcÃÂa-Gómez, 1996)</small>
- Halichondria arenacea <small>Dendy, 1895</small>
- Halichondria arenosa <small>Hentschel, 1929</small>
- Halichondria axinelloides <small>Swartschewsky, 1906</small>
- Halichondria bowerbanki <small>Burton, 1930</small>
- Halichondria brondstedi <small>De Laubenfels, 1936</small>
- Halichondria brunnea <small>(Schmidt, 1868)</small>
- Halichondria cancellosa <small>(Carter, 1886)</small>
- Halichondria capensis <small>Samaai & Gibbons, 2005</small>
- Halichondria carotenoidea <small>Alvarez & Hooper, 2011</small>
- Halichondria cartilaginea <small>(Esper, 1794)</small>
- Halichondria cebimarensis <small>Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001</small>
- Halichondria coerulea <small>Bergquist, 1967</small>
- Halichondria colossea <small>Lundbeck, 1902</small>
- Halichondria contorta <small>(SarÃÂ , 1961)</small>
- Halichondria convolvens <small>SarÃÂ , 1960</small>
- Halichondria cornuloides <small>Burton, 1954</small>
- Halichondria cristata <small>SarÃÂ , 1978</small>
- Halichondria cylindrata <small>Tanita & Hoshino, 1989</small>
- Halichondria darwinensis <small>Hooper, Cook, Hobbs & Kennedy, 1997</small>
- Halichondria diazae <small>Van Soest & Hooper, 2020</small>
- Halichondria diversispiculata <small>Burton, 1930</small>
- Halichondria dubia <small>(Czerniavsky, 1880)</small>
- Halichondria elenae <small>Gastaldi, De Paula, Narvarte, Lôbo-Hajdu & Hajdu, 2018</small>
- Halichondria fallax <small>(Marshall, 1892)</small>
- Halichondria flexuosa <small>(SarÃÂ , 1978)</small>
- Halichondria foetida <small>(Wilson, 1894)</small>
- Halichondria foraminosa <small>(Czerniavsky, 1880)</small>
- Halichondria fragilis <small>Kieschnick, 1896</small>
- Halichondria gageoenesis <small>Kang & Sim, 2008</small>
- Halichondria genitrix <small>(Schmidt, 1870)</small>
- Halichondria gilvus <small>Samaai & Gibbons, 2005</small>
- Halichondria glabrata <small>Keller, 1891</small>
- Halichondria heterorrhaphis <small>Breitfuss, 1912</small>
- Halichondria intermedia <small>Brøndsted, 1924</small>
- Halichondria isthmica <small>(Keller, 1883)</small>
- Halichondria japonica <small>(Kadota, 1922)</small>
- Halichondria knowltoni <small>Bergquist, 1961</small>
- Halichondria labiata <small>Hentschel, 1929</small>
- Halichondria lambei <small>Brøndsted, 1933</small>
- Halichondria lendenfeldi <small>Lévi, 1961</small>
- Halichondria leuconoides <small>Topsent, 1890</small>
- Halichondria longispicula <small>(Czerniavsky, 1880)</small>
- Halichondria lutea <small>Alcolado, 1984</small>
- Halichondria magniconulosa <small>Hechtel, 1965</small>
- Halichondria marianae <small>Santos, Nascimento & Pinheiro, 2018</small>
- Halichondria melanadocia <small>Laubenfels, 1936</small>
- Halichondria membranacea <small>(SarÃÂ , 1978)</small>
- Halichondria microbiana <small>Alvarez & Hooper, 1911</small>
- Halichondria migottea <small>Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001</small>
- Halichondria minuta <small>Keller, 1891</small>
- Halichondria modesta <small>(Pulitzer-Finali, 1986)</small>
- Halichondria moorei <small>Bergquist, 1961</small>
- Halichondria muanensis <small>Kang & Sim, 2008</small>
- Halichondria nigrocutis <small>(Carter, 1886)</small>
- Halichondria normani <small>Burton, 1930</small>
- Halichondria oblonga <small>(Hansen, 1885)</small>
- Halichondria okadai <small>(Kadota, 1922)</small>
- Halichondria osculum <small>Lundbeck, 1902</small>
- Halichondria oshoro <small>Tanita, 1961</small>
- Halichondria oxiparva <small>(SarÃÂ , 1978)</small>
- Halichondria panicea <small>(Pallas, 1766)</small>
- Halichondria papillaris <small>(Pallas, 1766)</small>
- Halichondria pelliculata <small>Ridley & Dendy, 1886</small>
- Halichondria phakellioides <small>Dendy & Frederick, 1924</small>
- Halichondria poa <small>(de Laubenfels, 1947)</small>
- Halichondria pontica <small>(Czerniavsky, 1880)</small>
- Halichondria prostrata <small>Thiele, 1905</small>
- Halichondria punctata <small>Bergquist, 1970</small>
- Halichondria renieroides <small>(Fristedt, 1887)</small>
- Halichondria semitubulosa <small>(Lamarck, 1814)</small>
- Halichondria solidior <small>(Schmidt, 1870)</small>
- Halichondria stylata <small>Diaz, Pomponi & Van Soest, 1993</small>
- Halichondria suberosa <small>(Esper, 1794)</small>
- Halichondria sulfurea <small>Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001</small>
- Halichondria surrubicunda <small>Hoshino, 1981</small>
- Halichondria syringea <small>Pulitzer-Finali, 1996</small>
- Halichondria tenebrica <small>Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001</small>
- Halichondria tenuiramosa <small>Dendy, 1922</small>
- Halichondria tenuispiculata <small>Brøndsted, 1916</small>
- Halichondria turritella <small>(Schmidt, 1870)</small>
- Halichondria velamentosa <small>(Hansen, 1885)</small>
- Subgenus unassigned
- Halichondria albescens <small>sensu Johnston, 1842</small>
- Halichondria flava <small>(Merejkowski, 1878)</small>
- Halichondria hongdoenesis <small>Kang & Sim, 2008</small>
- Halichondria kelleri <small>Van Soest & Hooper, 2020</small>
- Halichondria lona <small>Laubenfels, 1936</small>
- Halichondria magellanica <small>Dendy, 1924</small>
- Halichondria ulleungensis <small>Kang & Sim, 2008</small>
References