Taxa
Calcarea
Class
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Calcarea is a class of sponges in the phylum Porifera, distinguished from other sponges by skeletal spicules made of calcium carbonate in the form of high-magnesium calcite or aragonite. Around 800 species are known, a small share of the roughly 11,000 living sponge species overall. Calcareous sponges are exclusively marine, mostly found in shallow tropical waters, and live as small, sedentary filter feeders usually under 10 centimeters tall, some brightly colored despite the group's generally drab reputation.
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