Dear Khushali,

Sponges are not so straight forward to identify as Scleractinians due to their morphological plasticity, and unresolved phylogeny. The Systema porifera is an excellent but very large 2 volume resource. The best place to access the latest resources on sponge classification is Van Soests excellent 2012 paper:

Van Soest RWM, Boury-Esnault N, Vacelet J, Dohrmann M, Erpenbeck D, et al. (2012) Global Diversity of Sponges (Porifera). PLoS ONE 7(4): e35105. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035105.

Good luck with your research

Article Global Diversity of Sponges (Porifera)

Dear Khushali, you can also use the Thesaurus of Sponge Morphology alongside Systema Porifera if you chose to pursue sponge taxonomy. Also use WORMS (world register of marine species), specifically the literature and distribution functions to get the most up-to-date literature and sponge species lists for your study region. Hope this helps.

http://www.sil.si.edu/smithsoniancontributions/zoology/pdf_hi/sctz-0596.pdf

Referring the Book on Porifera by L.H.Hyman could be helpful. Library of Okha center of Junagadh Agriculture University has a copy of the same for your ready reference.

Hello,

perhaps this database is also useful for you.

http://hercules.kgs.ku.edu/hexacoral/anemone2/index.cfm

Hi,

The already mentioned Systema Porifera (edited by Hooper and van Soest) is the best resource.

Despite being a different geographic setting, perhaps you could also look into

R. Borojevic, N. Boury-Esnault (auth.), Jean Vacelet, Nicole Boury-Esnault (eds.) Taxonomy of Porifera- From the N.E. Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, 1987.

If you don't have access I will be happy to provide their e-version. Just contact me off-list.