||Ven*tric"u*lite (?), n. [See
Ventriculus.] (Paleon.) Any one of numerous species of
siliceous fossil sponges belonging to Ventriculites and allied
genera, characteristic of the Cretaceous period.
☞ Many of them were shaped like vases, others like mushrooms. They
belong to the hexactinellids, and are allied to the Venus's basket of
modern seas.