Subgenus Barbozia Dendy, 1922

Type species. Barbozia primitiva Dendy, 1922: 132, pl. 8, fig. 9; pl. 18, figs 1a–e (by monotypy).

Diagnosis. Hemispherical with erect fistules; confused, compact choanosomal skeleton of large, scattered or bundled strongylote to fusiform oxeas and smaller biangulate oxeas; ectosomal skeleton a thick crust of smaller biangulate oxeas and/ or styles; microscleres are palmate anisochelae with basal spurs, large plesiaster-like microxeas, and small spined, amphiaster-like rhabds (modified from Van Soest & Hajdu 2002).

Remarks. Dendy (1922: 134) described a variety of the type species, B. primitiva var. digitata Dendy, 1922, from 183 m depth off Mauritius, considering it be similar to the Seychelles holotype in all ways except the digitate morphology and the “somewhat more slender character of the megascleres”. Today, World Porifera Database recognises the variety as a junior synonym of P. (B.) primitiva (Van Soest et al. 2021b) .