# Halichondria

Halichondria is a genus of sea sponges belonging to the family Halichondriidae. These are massive, amorphous sponges with clearly separated inner and outer skeletons consisting of bundles of spicules arranged in a seemingly random pattern.
This genus of sponges became important through the discovery of cell division limiting properties of the extract Halichondrin B, which inhibits cell mitosis. The drug Eribulin, a related compound and an inhibitor of microtubule function, has become an important chemotherapy treatment for certain types of cancer.

## Species

The following species are recognised in the genus Halichondria:
* Subgenus Eumastia Schmidt, 1870
** Halichondria attenuata (Topsent, 1915)
** Halichondria maraensis Kim & Sim, 2009
** Halichondria schmidti Dendy, 1895
** Halichondria sitiens (Schmidt, 1870)
* Subgenus Halichondria Fleming, 1828
** Halichondria adelpha de Laubenfels, 1954
** Halichondria agglomerans Cabioch, 1968
** Halichondria aldabrensis Lévi, 1961
** Halichondria almae (Carballo, Uriz & García-Gómez, 1996)
** Halichondria arenacea Dendy, 1895
** Halichondria arenosa Hentschel, 1929
** Halichondria axinelloides Swartschewsky, 1906
** Halichondria bowerbanki Burton, 1930
** Halichondria brondstedi De Laubenfels, 1936
** Halichondria brunnea (Schmidt, 1868)
** Halichondria cancellosa (Carter, 1886)
** Halichondria capensis Samaai & Gibbons, 2005
** Halichondria carotenoidea Alvarez & Hooper, 2011
** Halichondria cartilaginea (Esper, 1794)
** Halichondria cebimarensis Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
** Halichondria coerulea Bergquist, 1967
** Halichondria colossea Lundbeck, 1902
** Halichondria contorta (Sarà, 1961)
** Halichondria convolvens Sarà, 1960
** Halichondria cornuloides Burton, 1954
** Halichondria cristata Sarà, 1978
** Halichondria cylindrata Tanita & Hoshino, 1989
** Halichondria darwinensis Hooper, Cook, Hobbs & Kennedy, 1997
** Halichondria diazae Van Soest & Hooper, 2020
** Halichondria diversispiculata Burton, 1930
** Halichondria dubia (Czerniavsky, 1880)
** Halichondria elenae Gastaldi, De Paula, Narvarte, Lôbo-Hajdu & Hajdu, 2018
** Halichondria fallax (Marshall, 1892)
** Halichondria flexuosa (Sarà, 1978)
** Halichondria foetida (Wilson, 1894)
** Halichondria foraminosa (Czerniavsky, 1880)
** Halichondria fragilis Kieschnick, 1896
** Halichondria gageoenesis Kang & Sim, 2008
** Halichondria genitrix (Schmidt, 1870)
** Halichondria gilvus Samaai & Gibbons, 2005
** Halichondria glabrata Keller, 1891
** Halichondria heterorrhaphis Breitfuss, 1912
** Halichondria intermedia Brøndsted, 1924
** Halichondria isthmica (Keller, 1883)
** Halichondria japonica (Kadota, 1922)
** Halichondria knowltoni Bergquist, 1961
** Halichondria labiata Hentschel, 1929
** Halichondria lambei Brøndsted, 1933
** Halichondria lendenfeldi Lévi, 1961
** Halichondria leuconoides Topsent, 1890
** Halichondria longispicula (Czerniavsky, 1880)
** Halichondria lutea Alcolado, 1984
** Halichondria magniconulosa Hechtel, 1965
** Halichondria marianae Santos, Nascimento & Pinheiro, 2018
** Halichondria melanadocia Laubenfels, 1936
** Halichondria membranacea (Sarà, 1978)
** Halichondria microbiana Alvarez & Hooper, 1911
** Halichondria migottea Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
** Halichondria minuta Keller, 1891
** Halichondria modesta (Pulitzer-Finali, 1986)
** Halichondria moorei Bergquist, 1961
** Halichondria muanensis Kang & Sim, 2008
** Halichondria nigrocutis (Carter, 1886)
** Halichondria normani Burton, 1930
** Halichondria oblonga (Hansen, 1885)
** Halichondria okadai (Kadota, 1922)
** Halichondria osculum Lundbeck, 1902
** Halichondria oshoro Tanita, 1961
** Halichondria oxiparva (Sarà, 1978)
** Halichondria panicea (Pallas, 1766)
** Halichondria papillaris (Pallas, 1766)
** Halichondria pelliculata Ridley & Dendy, 1886
** Halichondria phakellioides Dendy & Frederick, 1924
** Halichondria poa (de Laubenfels, 1947)
** Halichondria pontica (Czerniavsky, 1880)
** Halichondria prostrata Thiele, 1905
** Halichondria punctata Bergquist, 1970
** Halichondria renieroides (Fristedt, 1887)
** Halichondria semitubulosa (Lamarck, 1814)
** Halichondria solidior (Schmidt, 1870)
** Halichondria stylata Diaz, Pomponi & Van Soest, 1993
** Halichondria suberosa (Esper, 1794)
** Halichondria sulfurea Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
** Halichondria surrubicunda Hoshino, 1981
** Halichondria syringea Pulitzer-Finali, 1996
** Halichondria tenebrica Carvalho & Hajdu, 2001
** Halichondria tenuiramosa Dendy, 1922
** Halichondria tenuispiculata Brøndsted, 1916
** Halichondria turritella (Schmidt, 1870)
** Halichondria velamentosa (Hansen, 1885)
* Subgenus unassigned
** Halichondria albescens sensu Johnston, 1842
** Halichondria flava (Merejkowski, 1878)
** Halichondria hongdoenesis Kang & Sim, 2008
** Halichondria kelleri Van Soest & Hooper, 2020
** Halichondria lona Laubenfels, 1936
** Halichondria magellanica Dendy, 1924
** Halichondria ulleungensis Kang & Sim, 2008