A new Silurian (Llandovery, Telychian) sponge assemblage from Gotland, Sweden

A diverse assemblage of silicified sponges, including orchocladines, rhizomorines, stromatoporoids, hexactinellids and non-lithistid demosponges, has been collected from scree accumulations in a restricted area along the western coast of the Island of Gotland, Sweden. The assemblage comprises 29 species in 20 genera, 18 species of which have not previously been recorded from Baltica, together with several taxa in open nomenclature. This chapter discusses this sponge assemblage in detail. It first gives a brief introduction on the geological settings, and the material, repository, methods and terminology used for the study of the assemblage. The chapter discusses the sponge assemblage under various families, classes and orders such as Hexactinellida, Orchocladina, Stromatoporoidea, Rhizomorina and Streptosolenida.