Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) siliceous sponges from Nezvysʹko and Rakovetsʹ (Pokuttian Podillia, western Ukraine)

A taxonomic description of newly collected phosphatizated sponges from the Cenomanian strata of Nezvysʹko and Rakovetsʹ (Pokuttian Podillia, western Ukraine) is presented. The sponge assemblage comprises almost only hexactinellids. The sponges described comprise eleven species belonging to the order Hexactinosida, nineteen species to the order Lychniscosida and one lithistid demosponge species to the suborder Tetracladina, all of which were previously known from the Cretaceous of Europe. Twenty-three species are described from the Cenomanian of Pokuttian Podillia for the first time. The rich assemblage of sponges inhabited the deeper parts of a shelf sea, where the slow sedimentation rate and reduced turbulence favoured their development. Most have a basal plate and were attached to a hard substrate, e.g. on the skeletons of other siliceous sponges or hard skeletons of other animals.