@article{gledocs_11858_6854, author = {Mehl, Dorte and Reitner, Joachim}, title = {Observations on Astraeospongium meniscum (Roemer, 1948) from the Silurian of western Tennessee; constructional morphology and palaeobiology of the Astraeospongiidae (Calcarea, Heteractinellidae)}, year = {1996}, volume = {18}, pages = {243-255}, abstract = {Astraeospongium is found to form secondary calcareous basal skeletons and thus may be attributed to the morphological grouping "coralline sponges". In A. meniscum, a bowl-shaped sponge with a massive skeleton of octactins, the ontogenetically youngest and still uncemented spicules are found at the upper, concave surface, particularly close to the edge. Towards the bottom, the spicules soon become altered through epitaxic cementation and recrystallization. From this skeletal architecture can be inferred that the soft tissues occupied only the uppermost portions of the basal skeleton. The skeletal structure is in many respects similar to that of the recent Petrobiona massiliana, although the ecological adaptations of the two species are fundamentally different.}, note = { \url {http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/6854}}, }