Phylogeny
Porifera may be split into two subphylum; Cellularia and Symplasma. Celluria, contains Demospongiae and Calcarea whilst Symplasma is solely Hexactinellida. This particularly species, assumed to be Genus Niphates falls with the Class Demospongiae (See tree below)
Demospongiae > Haplosclerida > Niphatidae > Niphates
Fig: Phylogenetic tree of Porifera (Rupert et al 2009) |