Marine Bio - Sponge

Filter-feeder

A sponge filters its food from the water as it is pulled in through the pores, or holes, called ostia on the side of its body.

How many species?

Almost all 10,000+ are considered to be marine and filter feeders.

Kingdom

Animalia

Sponges are classified as...

Asymmetrical (lacking symmetry or likeness of body parts)

Flagella

Flagella on the collar cells pumps the water through the pores and out through the top of the sponge.

Larvae

Free swimming organisms with flagella, swim and drift until colliding with a suitable spot on the reef to fix themselves and begin to grow.

Collar Cells

Help bring oxygen in from the water.

Wandering cell (mesenchyme)

Jelly like middle that contains needle like support structures called spicules, carry food and oxygen.

Ostia

Pores or "holes" on the sides of the sponge's body

Phylum

Porifera, means "pore-bearer"

Reproduction

Sponges reproduce Asexually or sexually

What are Sponges?

They are invertebrates that live in water. They are mostly marine (live in salt water), but some do live in fresh water.

Waters Flows into the...

atrium

sponge compared to...

empty sack, sponge is hollow on the inside and has a large opening called the osculum at the top.

range

huge 5+ meters across (16 feet) to fine, encrusted, lumpy, or spilled paint.

Spicules

link together to form a simple skeleton that supports and shapes the body of the sponge.

avoid clogging #2

provide niche for mutualistic worms, sea cucumber, and other organisms to feed on obstructed material.

inhibit

sea floor from intertidal zone to deep water.

avoid clogging #1

secrete large quantity of mucus to cleanse their surface of debris or pathogens

Epithelium

tissue protects the sponge's outer surface, has contractible pores thru which waters enters.

Considered

to be among the simplest living organisms

Sponge is made up of..

two layers of cells: outer layer- are thin, flat cells called covering cells. inner layer- has flagella (little whips) and are called collar cells.

Osculum

water leaves the sponge through it.