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

References

Halichondrida {{demosponge-stub