Baerida

Baerida
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Porifera
Class:	Calcarea
Subclass:	Calcaronea
Order:	Baerida; Borojevic, Boury-Esnault & Vacelet, 2000
Families
	Baeriidae; Lepidoleuconidae; Trichogypsiidae;

Baerida is an order of sea sponges in the subclass of Calcaronea.^[1]

Species of the order Baerida are leuconoid calcareous sponges with the skeleton either composed exclusively of micro-diactines, or in which microdiactines constitute exclusively or predominantly a specific sector of the skeleton, such as choano-skeleton or atrial skeleton. Large or giant spicules are frequently present in the cortical skeleton, from which they can partially or fully invade the choanoderm. In sponges with a reinforced cortex, the inhalant pores can be restricted to a sieve-like ostia-bearing region. Dagger-shaped small tetractines (pugioles) are frequently the sole skeleton of the exhalant aquiferous system. Although the skeleton may be highly reinforced by the presence of dense layers of microdiactines in a specific region, an aspicular calcareous skeleton is not.