Stellispongiida
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| Stellispongiida Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Peronidella sp. (family Stellispongiidae) from the Middle Jurassic of Israel | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Porifera |
| Class: | Calcarea |
| Subclass: | Calcaronea |
| Order: | †Stellispongiida Finks & Rigby, 2004 |
| Subgroups | |
|
see text. | |
Stellispongiida is an order of calcareous sponges, most or all of which are extinct. Stellispongiids are one of several unrelated sponge groups described as "inozoans", a name referring to sponges with a hypermineralized calcitic skeleton independent from their spicules. Stellispongiids have a solid skeleton (without chambers) encasing calcite spicules arranged in trabeculae (column-like structures).[1][2] "Inozoans" and the similar "sphinctozoans" were historically grouped together in the polyphyletic order Pharetronida.[2]
Stellispongiids survived from the Permian to the Cenozoic, at least up to the Miocene Epoch.[1] They comprised the majority of "inozoan" diversity in the Cretaceous Period, though their distribution was mostly restricted to Europe.[2] The Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (2004) places the living sponge family Lelapiidae within Stellispongiida,[1] though Systema Porifera (2002) places Lelapiidae within the order Leucosolenida.[3][4]