Axoniderma Ridley & Dendy, 1886

Ekins, Merrick & Hooper, John N. A., 2023, New carnivorous sponges from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia collected by ROV from the RV FALKOR, Zootaxa 5293 (3), pp. 435-471 : 459

Genus Axoniderma Ridley & Dendy, 1886

Type species: Axoniderma mirabilis ( Ridley & Dendy, 1886) (type by monotypy)

Definition: Cladorhizidae with anchorate anisochelae and a ‘crinorhizoid’ parasol morphology.

Species also included: Axoniderma mirabilis ( Ridley & Dendy, 1886) , A. australis ( Ekins, Erpenbeck & Hooper, 2020) , A. corona ( Lehnert, Watling & Stone, 2005) , A. hubbsi ( Lundsten, Reiswig & Austin, 2017) , A. kensmithi ( Lundsten, Reiswig & Austin, 2017) , A. longipinna ( Ridley & Dendy, 1886) , A. mexicana ( Lundsten, Reiswig & Austin, 2017) , A. poritea ( Ekins, Erpenbeck & Hooper, 2020) and A. similis ( Ridley & Dendy, 1886) .

Remarks. The type species Axoniderma mirabilis was originally described as Trochoderma mirabile Ridley & Dendy, 1886 , type species by monotypy of Trochoderma Ridley & Dendy, 1886 ( Ridley & Dendy, 1886: 344). However, the genus was already occupied and another genus Axoniderma Ridley & Dendy, 1886 was created later, in the same publication ( Ridley & Dendy, 1886: 493) to accommodate the one species. The full description of Axoniderma mirabile was completed later ( Ridley & Dendy 1887: 96–98). The genus was later synonymized with Cladorhiza ( Hajdu & Vacelet, 2002) .

All of the species previously encompassed within the genus Cladorhiza were compared ( Ekins et al. 2020a), and then subsequently split ( Ekins et al. 2020b) into five genera: Cladorhiza Sars, 1872 (with arbuscular morphology), Axoniderma Ridley & Dendy, 1886 (with classic parasol/umbrella morphology), Abyssosdiskos Ekins, Erpenbeck, Goudie & Hooper, 2020 (with an upwards facing disc), Bathytentacular Ekins, Erpenbeck, Goudie & Hooper, 2020 (with teardrop with tentacular processes) and Nullarbora Ekins, Erpenbeck, Goudie & Hooper, 2020 (with pinnate morphology).