Asteropus vasiformis
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Porifera
- Class: Demospongiae
- Order: Tetractinellida
- Family: Ancorinidae
- Genus: Asteropus
- Species: Asteropus vasiformis
Species overview
Asteropus vasiformis is a species of marine sponge in the family Ancorinidae, described in a revision of Atlantic Asteropus (Demospongiae).[2]
Distribution and ecology
The species is reported from the Atlantic, including material off Barbados at a depth of 153 m, where it was described as apparently rare at that depth.[2]
Visual Description
The GBIF/Naturalis specimen image is consistent with a macroscopic Asteropus habit: a cup- to vase-like sponge with a raised apical surface bearing oscula.[3]
Diagnostic morphology (from the original taxonomic revision)
The original revision describes Asteropus vasiformis as a cup-shaped sponge (with one side not quite closed) and steep walls, with six oscules (one on the outside of the cup wall and others on opposing inner sides).[2]
At the spicule/skeleton level, it is characterized by (i) an ectosomal skeleton of a loose layer of tangential oxeas with sanidasters and some trichodragmata, and (ii) a choanosomal skeleton with radial architecture of huge oxeas that often protrude beyond the surface. Large oxyasters and a microsclere set including sanidasters and trichodragmata are emphasized as diagnostic features in that revision.[2]
Gallery
References
- ↑ Dataset view for Animalia / Porifera / Demospongiae / Tetractinellida / Ancorinidae / Asteropus / vasiformis constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- 1 2 3 4 Eduardo Hajdu; Rob W. M. van Soest. A revision of Atlantic Asteropus Sollas, 1888 (Demospongiae), including a description of three new species, and with a review of the family Coppatiidae Topsent, 1898. Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde. 1992. https://doi.org/10.1163/26660644-06201001.
- ↑ Asteropus vasiformis Hajdu & van Soest, 1992. GBIF. https://www.gbif.org/species/2247894. Accessed 2026-07-09.