Theonellidae is a family 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 order
Tetractinellida
Tetractinellida is an Order (biology), order of sea sponges belonging to the class Demospongiae. First described in 1876, this order received a new description in 2012 and replaced the two orders Astrophorida and Spirophorida, which then became s ...
,
which was first described by
Robert von Lendenfeld in 1903.
''Theonella conica'' is known for hyperaccumulation of
molybdenum
Molybdenum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mo (from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'') and atomic number 42. The name derived from Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ores. Molybdenum minerals hav ...
due to the action of an
endosymbiont
An endosymbiont or endobiont is an organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism. Typically the two organisms are in a mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship. Examples are nitrogen-fixing bacteria (called rhizobia), whi ...
microbe, ''Entotheonella sp.''
Genera
* ''
Colossolacis''
Schrammen, 1910
* ''
Dactylocalcites''
* ''
Discodermia''
du Bocage, 1869
* ''
Manihinea''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4119809
Sponge families
Taxa described in 1903
Taxa named by Robert J. Lendlmayer von Lendenfeld