Iophon (sponge)

Iophon is a genus of sponges belonging to the family Acarnidae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution.

Description
This geus contains species with non-fistulose, massive, branching or encrusting growth forms. The ectosomal (outer) skeleton is made of tylotes (long, slender megascleres with knobs at both ends) with microspined bases. The choanosomal (inner) skeleton is a rounded, triangular or square-meshed network of smooth or spined choanosomal styles, arranged singly or with 2-3 per row. The microscleres include bipocilla and palmate anisochelae with spurs. Bipocilla are unique to this genus. They are modified anisochela in which the wing-like alae are joined together by a short curved shaft. Toxas are absent.

Species
The following species are recognised:


 * Iophon abnormalis (Ridley & Dendy, 1886)
 * Iophon aceratum (Hentschel, 1914)
 * Iophon bipocillum (Aguilar-Camacho, Carballo & Cruz-Barraza, 2013)
 * Iophon cheliferum (Ridley & Dendy, 1886)
 * Iophon chilense (Desqueyroux-Faúndez & van Soest, 1996)
 * Iophon cylindricum (Ridley & Dendy, 1886)
 * Iophon dogieli (Koltun, 1955)
 * Iophon dubium (Hansen, 1885)
 * Iophon flabellodigitatum (Kirkpatrick, 1907)
 * Iophon frigidum Lundbeck, 1905
 * Iophon funis (Topsent, 1892)
 * Iophon gaussi (Hentschel, 1914)
 * Iophon hesperidesi (Rios, Cristobo & Urgorri, 2004)
 * Iophon husvikense (Goodwin, Brewin & Brickle, 2012)
 * Iophon hyndmani (Bowerbank, 1858)
 * Iophon indentatus (Wilson, 1904)
 * Iophon koltuni Morozov, Sabirov & Zimina, 2019
 * Iophon laevistylus Dendy, 1924
 * Iophon lamella (Wilson, 1904)
 * Iophon laminale (Ridley & Dendy, 1886)
 * Iophon methanophila (Cárdenas, 2019)
 * Iophon minor (Brøndsted, 1924)
 * Iophon nigricans (Bowerbank, 1858)
 * Iophon omnivorus (Ridley & Dendy, 1887)
 * Iophon ostiamagna (Wilson, 1904)
 * Iophon parvachela (Esteves, de Paula, Lerner, Lôbo-Hajdu & Hajdu, 2018)
 * Iophon piceum (Vosmaer, 1882)
 * Iophon pictoni (Goodwin, Brewin & Brickle, 2011)
 * Iophon pluricorne (Topsent, 1907)
 * Iophon pommeraniae (Thiele, 1903)
 * Iophon proximum (Ridley,1881)
 * Iophon radiatum (Topsent, 1901)
 * Iophon rayae (Bakus, 1966)
 * Iophon roseum (Goodwin, Brewin & Brickle, 2016)
 * Iophon semispinosum (Bergquist, 1961)
 * Iophon spinulentum (Bowerbank, 1866)
 * Iophon terranovae (Calcinai & Pansini, 2000)
 * Iophon timidum (Desqueyroux-Faúndez & van Soest, 1996)
 * Iophon tubiforme (Desqueyroux-Faúndez & van Soest, 1996)
 * Iophon unicorne (Topsent, 1907)
 * Iophon variopocillatum (Alander, 1942)