Heteractinida - Octactinellida
Parent taxon: Heteractinida according to J. K. Rigby et al. 2005
See also Finks et al. 2004, Rigby et al. 2008 and Senowbari-Daryan and Rigby 2015
Sister taxa: Archicladium, Conwaymorrisispongia, Corynospongia, Hetairacyathida, Polycladium
Subtaxa: Astraeospongiidae Eiffeliidae Nuchidae Wewokellidae
Ecology: stationary intermediate-level epifaunal suspension feeder
Distribution:
• Triassic of Canada (1: British Columbia collection)
• Permian of China (1), Iran (1), United States (1: New Mexico), Venezuela (1)
• Carboniferous of United States (27: Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah)
• Devonian of Canada (5: Manitoba, Nunavut, Ontario), the Czech Republic (1), Germany (3), United States (12: Arizona, Illinois, New York)
• Silurian of United States (24: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Wisconsin)
• Whiterockian of Canada (1: Northwest Territories)
• Ordovician of Argentina (3), Canada (4: Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon), the United Kingdom (2)
• Tremadoc of United States (1: Nevada)
• Cambrian of Australia (36), Canada (2: Brithish Columbia, British Columbia), China (5), Greenland (2), Guinea (1), Iran (1), Italy (1), Kazakhstan (12), Kyrgyzstan (5), Spain (2), Turkey (1), the United Kingdom (1)
• Delamaran of Canada (12: British Columbia), Jordan (1)
• Ordian of Australia (3)
Total: 173 collections including 212 occurrences