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Ulospongiella ancyla


Ulospongiella ancyla (ROM 43830) – Holotype. Nearly complete individual. Specimen height = 19 mm. Specimen dry – direct light (left), wet – polarized light (right). Trilobite Beds on Mount Stephen.
© ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM. PHOTOS: JEAN-BERNARD CARON
Ulospongiella ancyla (ROM 43831) – Paratype. Specimen showing fine details of the skeleton. Specimen diameter = 13 mm. Specimen dry – direct light (left), wet – polarized light (right). Trilobite Beds on Mount Stephen.
© ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM. PHOTOS: JEAN-BERNARD CARON
Taxonomy:
Ulospongiella is considered a primitive demosponge (Rigby, 1986). Demosponges, the same group that are harvested as bath sponges, represent the largest class of sponges today.
Ulospongiella – from the Greek oulus, “wooly or curly,” and spongia, “sponge.” The name refers to the curled or curved spicules forming the skeleton.
ancyla – from the Greek anklyos, “bent or hooked.” The name makes reference to the curved spicules.
Burgess Shale and vicinity: none.
Other deposits: none.
Age & Localities:
The Trilobite Beds on Mount Stephen.
History of Research:
Ulospongiella was described by Rigby and Collins in 2004 based on collections made by the Royal Ontario Museum.
Description:
Ulospongiella is a small sponge less than 2 cm in height. Its shape is subcyclindrical with a rounded base. Most spicules forming the skeleton are pointed at both ends (oxeas). These oxeas are strongly curved or hooked shape and form a relatively dense mesh. A few coarser and longer spicules with a round base extend upward from the wall. There is no clear indication of canals within the sponge there is no evidence of a central cavity (spongocoel).
Only three specimens are known, all from the Trilobite Beds.
Ecology:
Ulospongiella would have lived attached to the sea floor. Particles of organic matter were extracted from the water as they passed through canals in the sponge’s wall.
References:
RIGBY, J. K. AND D. COLLINS. 2004. Sponges of the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale and Stephen Formations, British Columbia. Royal Ontario Museum Contributions in Science (1): 155 p.
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