Cliona Grant, 1826

Marlow, Joseph, Bell, James J., Shaffer, Megan, Haris, Abdul & Schönberg, Christine Hanna Lydia, 2021, Bioeroding sponge species from the Wakatobi region of southeast Sulawesi Indonesia, Zootaxa 4996 (1), pp. 1-48 : 5

Genus Cliona Grant, 1826

Diagnosis. Clionaid genus with sponges in endolithic-papillate (alpha), endolithic-encrusting (beta), free-living (gamma), fistulate sand-dwelling (delta) and intermediate morphologies. Ability to erode calcareous materials. Megascleres as tylostyles, or modifications.Microscleres spirasterose spicules, amphiasters, raphides or microrhabds, if present. Skeleton with papillar tylostyles in palisade, unordered or as usually weakly defined fibres in choanosome, microscleres scattered or adhering to membranes. Erosion traces largely small-camerate, reaching less than 3 mm in diameter per chamber, but some species with large-camerate to cavernous erosion chambers. Association with Symbiodiniaceae common in sponges with tylostyles and spirasters.