Malawispongiidae is a family of freshwater sponges found in the ancient lakes of Malawi, Tanganyika, Kinneret, Ohrid and Poso.Itskovich; Kaluzhnaya; Ostrovsky; and McCormack (2013). The number of endemic species of freshwater sponges (Malawispongiidae; Spongillina; Porifera) from Lake Kinneret is overestimated. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 51(3). As presently defined, the family is polyphyletic.
Genera and species The family contains five genera and six species: Cortispongilla (Lake Kinneret, but validity of this genus is questionable) Cortispongilla barroisi (Topsent, 1892) Malawispongia (Lake Malawi) Malawispongia echinoides Brien, 1972 Ochridaspongia (Lake Ohrid) Ochridaspongia interlithonis Arndt, 1937 Ochridaspongia rotunda Arndt, 1937 Pachydictyum (Lake Poso) Pachydictyum globosum Weltner, 1901 Spinospongilla (Lake Tanganyika) Spinospongilla polli Brien, 1974
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