Polymastia Bowerbank, 1862

Ekins, Merrick, Erpenbeck, Dirk, Wörheide, Gert & Hooper, John N. A., 2023, Deep Water Polymastiidae (Porifera, Polymastiida) from the South West Pacific, Zootaxa 5369 (1), pp. 57-88 : 76

Polymastia Bowerbank, 1862

Diagnosis: Polymastiidae of encrusting, massive, globular, hemispherical or discoid body shape, always bearing papillae with oscula at the summits. Main choanosomal skeleton composed of tracts of principal monactines radiating from the sponge base or forming a reticulation.Auxiliary choanosomal skeleton comprises smaller monactines, freescattered or grouped in little bundles. Cortical skeleton constituted at least by a superficial palisade of small smooth tylostyles or subtylostyles and an internal layer of larger monactines lying obliquely to the surface and may include middle layers. A fringe of extra-long monactines may be present at the edge of the body ( Plotkin et al. 2018).