Merliida is an order of

demosponge Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). They are sponges with a soft body that covers a hard ...

s in the subclass

Heteroscleromorpha Heteroscleromorpha is a subclass of demosponges within the phylum Porifera Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms ...

, first described as such by

Jean Vacelet Jean Vacelet is a French marine biologist who specialises in the underwater fauna of the Mediterranean. After earning his licence at the Faculté des Sciences de Marseille and learning to dive in 1954, he specialised in the study of sponges at th ...

in 1979.van Soest, R. (2015)
Merliida.
In: Van Soest, R.W.M; Boury-Esnault, N.; Hooper, J.N.A.; Rützler, K.; de Voogd, N.J.; Alvarez de Glasby, B.; Hajdu, E.; Pisera, A.B.; Manconi, R.; Schoenberg, C.; Klautau, M.; Picton, B.; Kelly, M.; Vacelet, J.; Dohrmann, M.; Díaz, M.-C.; Cárdenas, P.; Carballo, J. L. (2016). World Porifera database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species on 2017-02-17.

References

External links

* Heteroscleromorpha Sponge orders Taxa named by Jean Vacelet {{demosponge-stub