{{Short description|Genus of sponges}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Petrosia ficiformis.jpg |image_caption = Petrosia ficiformis |taxon = Petrosia |authority = Vosmaer, 1885 }} '''''Petrosia''''' is a benthic genus of sponges belonging to the family Petrosiidae.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Petrosia (Petrosia) Vosmaer, 1885 |url=https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=166820#attributes |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=www.marinespecies.org}}</ref><ref name="GBIF">{{cite web |title=Petrosia Vosmaer, 1885 |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/2246444 |website=www.gbif.org |access-date=9 June 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
== Diet == They are filter feeders, and their diet is composed of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, plankton, and unicellular algae. Certain species can also absorb dissolved organic matter directly from the water. Other species host symbiotic cyanobacteria, which can provide additional nutrition via photosynthesis.
== Distribution == The [pgenus has an almost cosmopolitan distribution, with species found in habitats from temperate to tropical waters and from the intertidal zone to deep waters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Petrosia (Petrosia) Vosmaer, 1885 |url=https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=166820#distributions |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=www.marinespecies.org}}</ref>
== Description == ''Petrosia'' comprises sponges with a characteristic hard, stony, and brittle texture, primarily due to their dense network of siliceous spicules. While the group is morphologically diverse—exhibiting forms such as branching, cylindrical, globular, or bowl-shaped structures—the internal skeleton structure is a more consistent classifying feature. The surface of these sponges]p is typically rough or granular and punctuated by numerous, often small and scattered, oscules. The spicules, which can be seen under a microscope, are generally long, slightly curved rods with pointed or rounded ends. The coloration of ''Petrosia'' is variable; many species are dark reds, browns, or blacks, but some exhibit bright, vivid colors like yellow, often influenced by the presence of symbiotic cyanobacteria.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Juan |first1=Yung-Shun |last2=Lee |first2=Chien-Chih |last3=Tsao |first3=Chia-Wei |last4=Lu |first4=Mei-Chin |last5=El-Shazly |first5=Mohamed |last6=Shih |first6=Huei-Chuan |last7=Chen |first7=Yu-Cheng |last8=Wu |first8=Yang-Chang |last9=Su |first9=Jui-Hsin |date=2014-09-18 |title=Structure elucidation and cytotoxic evaluation of new polyacetylenes from a marine sponge Petrosia sp |journal=International Journal of Molecular Sciences |volume=15 |issue=9 |pages=16511–16521 |doi=10.3390/ijms150916511 |doi-access=free |issn=1422-0067 |pmc=4200862 |pmid=25238415}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-01-13 |title=ResearchGATE |url=https://doi.org/10.4016/9522.01 |access-date=2025-08-31 |website=SciVee |doi=10.4016/9522.01 |doi-broken-date=31 August 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Petrosia: The Sexual Life of the Sponges |url=http://coo.fieldofscience.com/2015/09/petrosia-sexual-life-of-sponges.html |access-date=2025-08-31}}</ref>
==Species==
# ''Petrosia (Petrosia) australis'' Bergquist & Warne, 1980 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) borealis'' (Lambe, 1895) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) brachysclera'' Lévi & Lévi, 1989 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) canariensis'' de Weerdt & van Soest, 1986 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) capsa'' Desqueyroux-Faúndez, 1987 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) clavata'' (Esper, 1794) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) crassa'' (Carter, 1876) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) cretacea'' (Schmidt, 1870) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) crustata'' Wilson, 1925 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) densissima'' Dendy, 1905 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) elephantotus'' Ilan, Gugel & van Soest, 2004 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) ernesti'' Goodwin & Downey, 2021 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) expansa'' (Thiele, 1903) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) ficiformis'' (Poiret, 1789) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) granifera'' Desqueyroux-Faúndez, 1987 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) hebes'' Lendenfeld, 1888 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) hoeksemai'' de Voogd & van Soest, 2002 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) incrustata'' (Alcolado & Gotera, 1986) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) intermedia'' (Czerniavsky, 1880) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) lignosa'' Wilson, 1925 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) mammiformis'' Dendy, 1922 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) massiva'' Lehnert & van Soest, 1996 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) microxea'' (Vacelet, Vasseur & Lévi, 1976) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) nigricans'' Lindgren, 1897 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) pellasarca'' (de Laubenfels, 1934) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) pigmentosa'' Fromont, 1991 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) plana'' Wilson, 1925 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) pluricrustata'' Lévi & Lévi, 1983 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) pulvilla'' (Thiele, 1903) # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) puna'' de Laubenfels, 1951 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) punctata'' Lévi & Lévi, 1983 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) raphida'' Boury-Esnault, Pansini & Uriz, 1994 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) revizee'' Rocha, Moraes, Salani & Hajdu, 2021 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) seychellensis'' Dendy, 1922 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) shellyi'' Pulitzer-Finali, 1993 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) solida'' Hoshino, 1981 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) solusstrongyla'' Hoshino, 1981 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) spheroida'' Tanita, 1967 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) truncata'' Ridley & Dendy, 1886 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) ushitsuensis'' Tanita, 1963 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) volcano'' Hoshino, 1976 # ''Petrosia (Petrosia) weinbergi'' van Soest, 1980 <ref name=":0" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Heteroscleromorpha Category:Taxa described in 1885 Category:Sponge genera