Cladorhizid sponges are a widely recognized group of
about 100 species of highly specialized small, thin, branching,
often symmetrical, deep-water forms that all probably capture
small crustaceans as prey. Hajdu and Vacelet (2002) assigned
authority for the family Cladorhizidae to Dendy (1922)
because he erected the group name Cladorhizeae, assigning
only his new species, Amphilectus unguiculatus, to it; Dendy
gave no diagnosis of the group. De Laubenfels (1936)
provided the first summary of the distinctive morphological
and habitat characters shared by members of the three genera,
Cladorhiza Sars, 1872, Asbestopluma Topsent, 1901, and
Chondrocladia Thomson, 1873, that consitute the modern
scope of family Cladorhizidae.