Freshwater Sponges

Author : J. T. Penney
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781333452995
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (529 download)

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Download or read book Comprehensive Revision of a Worldwide Collection of Freshwater Sponges (Porifera, Spongillidae) (Classic Reprint) written by J. T. Penney and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-09-02 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Comprehensive Revision of a Worldwide Collection of Freshwater Sponges (Porifera, Spongillidae) In spite of the fact that serious scientific efforts in the taxonomic study of freshwater sponges were begun in the mid-19th century, and that a great number of subsequent investigators have contributed a massive amount of additional descriptive information, the taxonomy of this group has remained in a most chaotic state. Following Bowerbank's (1863) initial revision of all species of Spongilla, Gray (1867) was first to establish useful criteria for their generic differen tiation and to erect six new genera in addition to Spongilla Lamarck. Unfortunately, this system was criticized and its validity questioned by Carter (1881a), who claimed that Gray established his new genera without having seen Bowerbank's material upon which they were erected. Although fully unjustified in doing so, Carter (1881a) alto gether ignored Gray's existing generic names and devised his own system for the inclusion of Bowerbank's species and subsequently collected material. Thus it happened that Gray's well-established genera fell into complete obscurity for many decades, and Carter's system became firmly established, Without being seriously challenged by any subsequent taxonomist. From the turn of this century, several attempts were made to revise comprehensively the status of the ever increasing numbers of species. After the publication of the first bibliography of all freshwater sponges by Weltner it was chie y Annandale (1906 - 1919) who began to build the foundations to an improved and modernized knowledge of spongillid taxonomy. Annandale reestablished some of Gray's generic names, at least at a subgeneric level, and added a number of well-defined new genera to the conglomerate systems of Gray and Carter. Additional revisions were subsequently undertaken by Gee (1926 Schroder (1926 and Arndt (1923 to name just the most important contributors. Generic revisions were attempted by De Laubenfels (1936) and Jewell However, in spite of the fact that all these investigations have certainly helped to overcome a number of taxonomic difficulties, they seemed to have little effect on the stability of taxonomic nomenclature. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."