Some Pennsylvanian and Permian sponges from Southwestern Oklahoma and North-central Texas

A variety of calcareous heteractinid sponges and pharetronid inozoan and sphinctozoan calcareous sponges, with less common lithistid demosponges and stiodermatid hexactinellid sponges, occur in collections ranging through much of the Middle and Upper Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian from north-central Texas and southwestern Oklahoma. The sponges were collected as incidental items to a major paleontologic and stratigraphic study of Pennsylvanian faunas of the region. Both Wewokella solida Girty, 1911, and Regispongia contorta (King, 1943) occur in the collection, with the latter most common in Virgilian Pennsylvanian rocks and the former in Missourian and Lower Permian rocks of the region. Inozoan calcareous sponges are represented by Maeandrostia kansasensis Girty, 1908, and several species of Fissispongia, King, 1938, including F. jacksboroensis King, 1938, F. spinosa King, 1938, and F. tortacloaca (King, 1933). The sphinctozoan calcareous sponges include Amblysiphonella prosseri Clarke, 1897, and Girtycoelia beedei King, 1933. Lithistid demosponges include (?) Haplistion spp. A-C, and a single specimen of Coelocladia spinosa Girty, 1908. Small fragments of an open cellular sponge(?), and thin sculptured crusts of probable sponge origin, included in Incrustospongia meandrica Molineux, 1994, also occur in the collections. Hexactinellids are represented in the collection by Stioderma coscinum Finks, 1960. Other root-tuft clusters and masses of both hexactine and irregular monactine spiculites occur in the collection, largely as isolated small fragments recovered from residues and are commonly replaced by limonite. Nearly all of the species have been previously reported from the region, but the present paper documents their occurrence as some of the distinctive species at specific localities, including their original localities.