''Petrosia'' is a genus of
sponges
Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and ar ...
belonging to the family
Petrosiidae
Petrosiidae is a family of sponges, first described in 1980 by Rob van Soest
Robertus Wilhelmus Maria van Soest, born in 1946, is a Dutch marine biologist. He works at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and is also affiliated with the Univer ...
.
Petrosia are well distributed from temperate zone waters to tropical and from intertidal zone to deep waters.
The genus has almost
cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...
.
Sponges are effective filter feeders, and associated, undigested microorganisms can count up to 60% of the fresh weight of marine sponges. These microorganisms include bacteria, fungi, cyanobacteria and unicellular algae.
Species
Species:
*''
Petrosia alfiani''
*''
Petrosia armata''
*''
Petrosia australis''
*''
Petrosia ficiformis''
(Poiret, 1979)
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4116306
Heteroscleromorpha
Taxa described in 1885
Sponge genera