01612nas a2200169   4500008004100000022001400041245010000055210006900155300001300224490000700237520106200244100002601306700002201332700002001354700002001374856004801394       2013                        eng d  a1557-702300a{The integrative taxonomic approach applied to porifera: a case study of the homoscleromorpha.}0 aintegrative taxonomic approach applied to porifera a case study   a416–270 v533 aThe two main scientific tasks of taxonomy are species' delineation and classification. These two tasks are often treated differently, with classification accomplished by newly-developed phylogenetic methods, often based on molecular sequences, while delimitation of species is conducted by what is often considered to be an "old-fashioned" typological approach based on morphological description. A new "integrative taxonomy" has been proposed which maintains that species delimitation should be a multidisciplinary undertaking combining several independent datasets. Here we argue that the same principle is relevant to the classification of species. In the past 20 years, we assembled various datasets based on the external morphology, anatomy, cytology, spicule shapes, geography, reproduction, genetic sequences, and metabolomics of homoscleromorph sponges. We show how we used these datasets to describe new species of homoscleromorph sponges and to elucidate their phylogenetic relationships and their phylogenetic position within the phylum Porifera.1 aBoury-Esnault, Nicole1 aLavrov, Dennis, V1 aRuiz, César, a1 aPérez, Thierry  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2367063202410nas a2200169   4500008004100000022001400041245011300055210006900168260000800237300001300245490000700258520185500265100002002120700002702140700002202167856005102189       2005                        eng d  a1540-706300a{Biodiversity, molecular ecology and phylogeography of marine sponges: patterns, implications and outlooks.}0 aBiodiversity molecular ecology and phylogeography of marine spon  capr  a377–850 v453 aMarine sponges are an ecologically important and highly diverse component of marine benthic communities, found in all the world's oceans, at all depths. Although their commercial potential and evolutionary importance is increasingly recognized, many pivotal aspects of their basic biology remain enigmatic. Knowledge of historical biogeographic affinities and biodiversity patterns is rudimentary, and there are still few data about genetic variation among sponge populations and spatial patterns of this variation. Biodiversity analyses of tropical Australasian sponges revealed spatial trends not universally reflected in the distributions of other marine phyla within the Indo-West Pacific region. At smaller spatial scales sponges frequently form heterogeneous, spatially patchy assemblages, with some empirical evidence suggesting that environmental variables such as light and/or turbidity strongly contribute to local distributions. There are no apparent latitudinal diversity gradients at larger spatial scales but stochastic processes, such as changing current patterns, the presence or absence of major carbonate platforms and historical biogeography, may determine modern day distributions. Studies on Caribbean oceanic reefs have revealed similar patterns, only weakly correlated with environmental factors. However, several questions remain where molecular approaches promise great potential, e.g., concerning connectivity and biogeographic relationships. Studies to date have helped to reveal that sponge populations are genetically highly structured and that historical processes might play an important role in determining such structure. Increasingly sophisticated molecular tools are now being applied, with results contributing significantly to a better understanding of poriferan microevolutionary processes and molecular ecology.1 aWörheide, Gert1 aSolé-Cava, Antonio, M1 aHooper, John, N A  uhttp://icb.oxfordjournals.org/content/45/2/377