Deep-Sea taxon details
Ascandra Haeckel, 1872
131733 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:131733)
accepted
Genus
Ascandra falcata Haeckel, 1872 (type by subsequent designation)
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent only
feminine
Haeckel, E. (1872). Die Kalkschwämme. Eine Monographie in zwei Bänden Text und einem Atlas mit 60 Tafeln Abbildungen. <em>G. Reimer:Berlin.</em> (1: 1-484) 2: 1-418 (3: pls 1-60). [details] 
Note Borojevic et al. (2002) stated that the type...
Type species Borojevic et al. (2002) stated that the type species was automatically assigned its status as type of Ascandra by monotypy, but strictly taken this is not correct as Haeckel (1872) when proposing the genus assigned 14 species to it. Thirteen of these firstly assigned species were later on reassigned to already existing genera Clathrina and Leucosolenia and only one, A. falcata was left in the genus. Thus the type species was subsequently designated by Minchin (1896) and not by monotypy or by original designation. Von Lendenfeld (1891, 1896) argued that his genus name Homandra should replace Ascandra because of the many reassignments of Haeckel's Ascandra species, but Minchin (1897) correctly pointed out that the species A. falcata was not reassigned and was thus justifiably designated as the type species, with Homandra falcata as an objective junior synonym by sharing the same type species. [details]
de Voogd, N.J.; Alvarez, B.; Boury-Esnault, N.; Cárdenas, P.; Díaz, M.-C.; Dohrmann, M.; Downey, R.; Goodwin, C.; Hajdu, E.; Hooper, J.N.A.; Kelly, M.; Klautau, M.; Lim, S.C.; Manconi, R.; Morrow, C.; Pinheiro, U.; Pisera, A.B.; Ríos, P.; Rützler, K.; Schönberg, C.; Turner, T.; Vacelet, J.; van Soest, R.W.M.; Xavier, J. (2026). World Porifera Database. Ascandra Haeckel, 1872. Accessed through: Glover, A.G.; Higgs, N.; Horton, T. (2026) World Register of Deep-Sea species (WoRDSS) at: https://marinespecies.org/deepsea/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=131733 on 2026-04-25
Glover, A.G.; Higgs, N.; Horton, T. (2026). World Register of Deep-Sea species (WoRDSS). Ascandra Haeckel, 1872. Accessed at: https://marinespecies.org/Deepsea/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=131733 on 2026-04-25
Date
action
by
original description
Haeckel, E. (1872). Die Kalkschwämme. Eine Monographie in zwei Bänden Text und einem Atlas mit 60 Tafeln Abbildungen. <em>G. Reimer:Berlin.</em> (1: 1-484) 2: 1-418 (3: pls 1-60). [details]
basis of record Borojevic, R.; Boury-Esnault, N.; Manuel, M.; Vacelet, J. (2002). Order Clathrinida Hartman, 1958. Pp. 1141-1152. <i>In:</i> Hooper, J.N.A. & Van Soest, R.W.M. (eds) <i>Systema Porifera - A guide to the classification of sponges</i>. (2 volumes) Kluwer Academic/ Plenum, NY, 1708+xvliii. ISBN 0-306-47260-0 (printed version). (look up in IMIS), available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0747-5_118 [details] Available for editors
basis of record Borojevic, R.; Boury-Esnault, N.; Manuel, M.; Vacelet, J. (2002 [2004]). Order Clathrinida Hartman, 1958. Pp. 1141-1152. <i>In</i> Hooper, J.N.A. & Van Soest, R.W.M. (eds). <i>Systema Porifera - A guide to the classification of sponges</i>. (2 volumes) Kluwer Academic/ Plenum, NY, 1708 + xvliii. ISBN 978-1-4615-0747-5 (eBook electronic version). [details] Available for editors
additional source Van Soest, R.W.M. (2001). Porifera, <b><i>in</i></b>: Costello, M.J. <i>et al.</i> (Ed.) (2001). <i>European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification</i>. <em>Collection Patrimoines Naturels.</em> 50: 85-103. (look up in IMIS) [details]
additional source Borojevic, R. (1966). Éponges calcaires des côtes de France. II. Le genre <i>Ascandra</i> Haeckel emend. <em>Archives de Zoologie Expérimentale et Générale.</em> 107 (2): 357-367. [details]
source of synonymy Minchin, E.A. (1897). <i>Ascandra</i> or <i>Homandra</i>? A test case for the rules of Zoological nomenclature. <em>Zoologischer Anzeiger.</em> 20 (524): 48-50. [details]
basis of record Borojevic, R.; Boury-Esnault, N.; Manuel, M.; Vacelet, J. (2002). Order Clathrinida Hartman, 1958. Pp. 1141-1152. <i>In:</i> Hooper, J.N.A. & Van Soest, R.W.M. (eds) <i>Systema Porifera - A guide to the classification of sponges</i>. (2 volumes) Kluwer Academic/ Plenum, NY, 1708+xvliii. ISBN 0-306-47260-0 (printed version). (look up in IMIS), available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0747-5_118 [details] Available for editors
basis of record Borojevic, R.; Boury-Esnault, N.; Manuel, M.; Vacelet, J. (2002 [2004]). Order Clathrinida Hartman, 1958. Pp. 1141-1152. <i>In</i> Hooper, J.N.A. & Van Soest, R.W.M. (eds). <i>Systema Porifera - A guide to the classification of sponges</i>. (2 volumes) Kluwer Academic/ Plenum, NY, 1708 + xvliii. ISBN 978-1-4615-0747-5 (eBook electronic version). [details] Available for editors
additional source Van Soest, R.W.M. (2001). Porifera, <b><i>in</i></b>: Costello, M.J. <i>et al.</i> (Ed.) (2001). <i>European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification</i>. <em>Collection Patrimoines Naturels.</em> 50: 85-103. (look up in IMIS) [details]
additional source Borojevic, R. (1966). Éponges calcaires des côtes de France. II. Le genre <i>Ascandra</i> Haeckel emend. <em>Archives de Zoologie Expérimentale et Générale.</em> 107 (2): 357-367. [details]
source of synonymy Minchin, E.A. (1897). <i>Ascandra</i> or <i>Homandra</i>? A test case for the rules of Zoological nomenclature. <em>Zoologischer Anzeiger.</em> 20 (524): 48-50. [details]
Present Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
From editor or global species database
Type species Borojevic et al. (2002) stated that the type species was automatically assigned its status as type of Ascandra by monotypy, but strictly taken this is not correct as Haeckel (1872) when proposing the genus assigned 14 species to it. Thirteen of these firstly assigned species were later on reassigned to already existing genera Clathrina and Leucosolenia and only one, A. falcata was left in the genus. Thus the type species was subsequently designated by Minchin (1896) and not by monotypy or by original designation. Von Lendenfeld (1891, 1896) argued that his genus name Homandra should replace Ascandra because of the many reassignments of Haeckel's Ascandra species, but Minchin (1897) correctly pointed out that the species A. falcata was not reassigned and was thus justifiably designated as the type species, with Homandra falcata as an objective junior synonym by sharing the same type species. [details]
