Axinella pyramidata
Taxonomy
This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Porifera
- Class: Demospongiae
- Order: Axinellida
- Family: Axinellidae
- Genus: Axinella
- Species: Axinella pyramidata
Visual Description
Across photographic records attributed to Axinella pyramidata (including images indexed from EOL/WoRMS and citizen-science observations), the species is depicted as a visibly upright to pyramid-shaped, lobate or branching sponge body with a coarse, hispid/surface texture formed by exposed skeletal elements.
In images, the external coloration is generally light to medium brown/ochre to gray-brown, though field records show variation between individuals and lighting conditions.
Species identity and taxonomic status
Axinella pyramidata is treated as an accepted species in global taxonomic aggregation (GBIF), with original authorship attributed to Stephens (1916).[2]
Molecular data are used in regional sponge systematics involving Axinella (Axinellidae). In a study of Eastern Mediterranean mesophotic sponge grounds, A. pyramidata was reported as the genetically closest species to Axinella venusta sp. nov.; the authors report very high marker similarity (28S: 98% similarity; 18S: 99.5%). The paper also emphasizes that differences in shape and color were used to support recognition of A. venusta as distinct from A. pyramidata.
Gallery
References
- ↑ Dataset view for Animalia / Porifera / Demospongiae / Axinellida / Axinellidae / Axinella / pyramidata constructed from imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M records under this taxonomic path. Hugging Face Datasets. https://huggingface.co/datasets/imageomics/TreeOfLife-200M.
- ↑ Axinella pyramidata Stephens, 1916. GBIF. https://www.gbif.org/species/5183100. Accessed 2026-07-09.
- ↑ Tal Idan; Sigal Shefer; Tamar Feldstein; Micha Ilan. New discoveries in Eastern Mediterranean mesophotic sponge grounds: updated checklist and description of three novel sponge species. Mediterranean Marine Science. 2021. https://doi.org/10.12681/mms.25837.