LITHELIOIDEA Haeckel, 1862

Suzuki, Noritoshi, Caulet, Jean-Pierre & Dumitrica, Paulian, 2021, A new integrated morpho- and molecular systematic classification of Cenozoic radiolarians (Class Polycystinea) - suprageneric taxonomy and logical nomenclatorial acts, Geodiversitas 43 (15), pp. 405-573 : 441

Superfamily LITHELIOIDEA Haeckel, 1862

sensu Matsuzaki et al. (2015)

Lithelida Haeckel, 1862: 240, 515-519 [as both family and tribe]; 1882: 464 [as a family]; 1884: 29 [as a family]; 1887: 604, 688- 691 [as a family].

Litheliacea [sic] – Loeblich & Tappan 1961: 226 (= Lithelioidea ) [as a superfamily]. — Dumitrica 1984: 101 [as a superfamily].

Ommatodiscilae – Loeblich & Tappan 1961: 225 [as a subsuperfamily].

Sponguracea [sic] – Loeblich & Tappan 1961: 223 (= Sponguroidea ). — Kozur & Mostler 1981: 37-38 ( sensu emend. ). — De Wever et al. 2001: 162.

Spongodruppilae – Pessagno 1973: 50, 75 [nomen dubium, as a subsuperfamily];1977c: 73; 1977b: 932-933 [as a subsuperfamily].

Lithelioidea – Petrushevskaya 1975: 571-572; 1979: 109; 1986: 130. — Dumitrica 1979: 24. — Matsuzaki et al. 2015: 37.

Oviformata [pars] Afanasieva & Amon in Afanasieva, Amon, Agarkov & Boltovskoy, 2005: S280-281 [as an order of Class Stauraxonaria] (= Spongolonchidae + Staurodruppidae + Gomberellidae + Archaeospongoprunidae + Phaseliformidae ). — Afanasieva & Amon 2006: 121 [as an order].

Pyramidata [pars] Afanasieva & Amon in Afanasieva, Amon, Agarkov & Boltovskoy, 2005: S282 [as an order of Class Stauraxonaria] (= Tormentidae + Ruzhencevispongidae + Pyramispongiidae + Cavaspongiidae ).— Afanasieva & Amon 2006: 122-123 [as an order].

Spongurata [pars] – Afanasieva et al. 2005: S287 [as an order of Class Stauraxonaria] (= Sponguridae + Litheliidae ). — Afanasieva & Amon 2006: 130 [as an order].

Sponguroidea – Matsuzaki et al. 2015: 24. DIAGNOSIS. — The central part contains a tiny spherical microsphere and is characterized by distinctive concentric structures, or walls, which are densely and systematically spaced. Many straight radial beams, if present, evenly radiate from the central part and perforate the concentric structure. Shell shape is spherical, oval, elliptical, cylindrical or flat.

REMARKS

This superfamily includes Conocaryommidae (although questionably), Litheliidae (Clade L1), Phaseliformidae , Pyramispongiidae and Sponguridae . A molecular phylogenetic analysis indicates a significantly long interval between Lithelius and Ommatogramma (originally Spongocore in Ishitani et al. 2012) by Ishitani et al. (2012) but it is likely to be close each other in other spumellarians ( Sandin et al. 2021). The superfamily “ Sponguroidea ” sensu De Wever et al. (2001: 162) consists of seven families, and include the Litheliidae . We use Lithelioidea as the valid superfamily because the detailed internal structure of Sponguridae is not well documented yet. Spherical to ellipsoid Lithelioidea were sometimes confounded with Larcospiroidea and Phorticioidea of similar shape under light microscopy. As Lithelioidea lacks the girdle structure, the lithelioid central part does not appear to have a cornered (square) outline under a light microscope. By referring to the diagnosis of Lithelioidea , several Mesozoic families ( Gomberellidae Kozur & Mostler 1981 ; Oertlispongidae Kozur & Mostler in Dumitrica et al. 1980; Pyramispongiidae Kozur & Mostler 1978 ; Spongotortilispinidae Kozur & Mostler in Moix et al. 2007) could potentially be classed into this superfamily.

Afanasieva et al. (2005) established two orders, namely “ Oviformata ” and “ Spongurata ”. The combination of both these orders approximately corresponds to the Sponguroidea sensu De Wever et al. (2001) , and thus an order-level classification is inappropriate with regard to consistency in the higher taxonomy of Eukaryotes (Cavalier-Smith et al. 2018; Adl et al. 2019).