Sponge (animal)

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For sponges used for washing, see Sponge (tool).

Porifera
Temporal range: Ediacaran–recent
A stove-pipe sponge
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Grant, 1836
Type species
Amphimedon queenslandica[1]
Classes
Synonyms

Parazoa/Ahistozoa (sans Placozoa)[2]

A sponge is a member of the phylum Porifera. It is a simple animal with many cells, but no mouth, muscles, heart or brain. It is sessile: it cannot move from place to place the way most animals can. A sponge is an animal that grows in one spot like most plants do. Nevertheless, sponges are quite successful.

The basic body plan is a jelly-like layer sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. Their bodies are full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them. Most of them feed on bacteria and other microorganisms. A few of them eat tiny crustaceans.

There are more than 10,000 species of sponge. Most sponges live in the ocean. A few live in fresh water. All sponges take in water through pores (little holes) in their bodies. The water goes out through a big tube in the center. Most sponges filter (take out) little bits of food from the water going through their bodies. Animals that get food this way are called filter feeders.

Sponges are the oldest animals with fossil evidence (from ~635 million years ago).[3]

What makes them different[change | change source]

  Sponges[4] Cnidarians and ctenophores[5]
Nervous system No Yes, simple
Cells in layer bound together No, except that Homoscleromorpha have basement membranes.[6] Yes: inter-cell connections; basement membranes
Cells in middle "jelly" layer Many Few
Cells can move in, change functions Yes No

Sponges are simple animals. A few things make them different from other animals.

  • A living sponge can change the shape of its body. Most cells in its body can move around; a few cells can even change from one type of cell to another.[7]
  • Like cnidarians (jellyfish, etc.) and ctenophores (comb jellies), and unlike all other known metazoans, sponges' bodies are made of a non-living jelly-like mass sandwiched between two main layers of cells.[5]
  • Sponges have no nervous system. Their middle jelly-like layers have many different types of cells. Some types of cell in their outer layers may move into the middle layer and change their functions.[4]
  • Sponges can deter predators by releasing a chemically active compound that can contain toxins and also affect organisms competing with them.[8]

Different kinds of sponges[change | change source]

There are four classes of sponges. The difference between these kinds is in how their skeleton is made.

  • Demosponges is a class that contains most of the sponges. The sponges in this class make their skeleton from spongin. Spongin is a special protein. All the large sponges are in this order.
  • Bony sponges use calcium carbonate to make the skeleton. They are known as Calcarea. They are usually very small, only 3-4 inches in height. Of the about 15,000 sponges known, about 400 are Calcarea.
  • Glass sponges use silicon dioxide to make their skeletons. They are sometimes called Hexactinellida. Most of these live very deep in the ocean. There are about 500 different kinds of glass sponges, in 17 different families. These sponges make for about 7% of all known sponges.
  • Homoscleromorpha are a class which was part of the Demosponges. Actually, they are well separated from the demosponges.[9]

Life functions[change | change source]

Movement[change | change source]

Sponges are sessile, they live in one place, where they are fixed to the ground. A few sponges can change their position, they can move at speeds of between 1 mm and 4 mm a day. They do this like amoebae. A few species can contract their whole bodies. Many can close their openings/holes.[4]

Carnivorous sponges[change | change source]

A few species live in waters where there is very little food available. They have therefore changed, and became predators. They eat small crustaceans and other small animals. Most of these sponges belong to the family Cladorhizidae, but a few members of the Guitarridae and Esperiopsidae are also carnivores.[10] In most cases little is known about how they actually capture prey. Some species are thought to use either sticky threads or hooked spicules.[10][11] Most carnivorous sponges live in deep waters, up to 8,840 metres (5.49 mi),[12] and the development of deep-ocean exploration techniques is expected to lead to the discovery of several more.[4][10] However one species has been found in Mediterranean caves at depths of 17-23m alongside the more usual filter feeding sponges. The cave-dwelling predators capture crustaceans under 1 millimetre (0.039 in) long by entangling them with fine threads, digest them by enveloping them with further threads over the course of a few days, and then return to their normal shape; there is no evidence that they use venom.[12]

Most known carnivorous sponges have completely lost the water flow system and choanocytes. However the genus Chondrocladia uses a highly modified water flow system to inflate balloon-like structures that are used for capturing prey.[10][13]

Reproduction in Sponges[change | change source]

Asexual reproduction[change | change source]

Sponges usually reproduce when little pieces break off. If such a piece has the right types of cells it can grow to become a new sponge. A few sponges can also use budding. With budding a small sponge grows on the parent; when it is done growing, it simply falls off. When the conditions are bad, some sponges can also grow lumps of unspecialised cells. These will not develop until the conditions improve again. They can then either make a new sponge, or they can use the skeleton of the parent sponge (that died).

Sexual reproduction[change | change source]

Most sponges reproduce sexually. They can make sperm cells that are released into the water. These are either captured by another sponge, and are then transported to the egg cells of the parent. This is known as viviparous. Both cells are joined to form larvae, which can swim off to find a good place to settle.

The other way, known as oviparous is that both sperm cells and egg cells are released into the water. These then combine outside the sponges.

Use as tools[change | change source]

By dolphins[change | change source]

A report in 1997 described how bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay used sponges as tools: A dolphin may attach a marine sponge to its rostrum (snoutlike projection). It is thought the sponge is used to protect the rostrum when the dolphin is looking for food in the sandy sea bottom but scientists have not confirmed this.[14] The behaviour, known as sponging, has only been seen in this bay, and is almost exclusively shown by females. A study in 2005 concluded that mothers teach the behaviour to their daughters, and that all the sponge-users are closely related. This suggests that it is a fairly recent innovation.[15] Dolphins also use sponges as an exfoliator, rubbing their skin against the sponge attached to the rock to get rid of their old/dry skin.

By people[change | change source]

Display of natural sponges for sale on Kalymnos in Greece
See the main article: Sponge (tool)

The calcium carbonate or silica spicules of most sponges make them too rough for most uses, but two genera, Hippospongia and Spongia, have soft, entirely fibrous skeletons. Early Europeans used soft sponges for many purposes including padding for helmets, portable drinking utensils and municipal water filters. Until synthetic sponges were invented, they were also used as cleaning tools, for painting, and as contraceptives. In the 20th century, overfishing is a problem. This has caused the animals, as well as the industry behind it to be close to extinction.[16]

Many objects with sponge-like textures are now made of substances that do not come from poriferans. Synthetic "sponges" include personal and household cleaning tools; breast implants;[17] contraceptive sponges.[18]

The luffa "sponge", also spelled loofah, which is commonly sold for use in the kitchen or the bath, is not derived from an animal but from the fibrous "skeleton" of a gourd (Cucurbitaceae).[19]

Gallery[change | change source]

  • Diagram of a sponge
    Diagram of a sponge
  • Sponges growing near the edge of the ocean
    Sponges growing near the edge of the ocean

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Srivastava M, Simakov O, Chapman J, Fahey B, Gauthier ME, Mitros T, et al. (August 2010). "The Amphimedon queenslandica genome and the evolution of animal complexity". Nature. 466 (7307): 720–6. Bibcode:2010Natur.466..720S. doi:10.1038/nature09201. PMC 3130542. PMID 20686567.
  2. ↑ Pajdzińska A (2018). "Animals die more shallowly: they aren't deceased, they're dead. Animals in the polish linguistic worldview and in contemporary life sciences" (PDF). Ethnolinguistic. 29: 147–161. doi:10.17951/et.2017.29.135.
  3. ↑ Animals, Mindy Weisberger 2018-10-25T12:14:32Z (25 October 2018). "Traces of Earth's oldest animals possibly found". livescience.com. Retrieved 2019-09-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Ruppert, E.E., Fox, R.S., and Barnes, R.D. (2004). Invertebrate Zoology (7 ed.). Brooks / Cole. pp. 76–97. ISBN 0030259827.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hinde, R.T. (1998). "The Cnidaria and Ctenophora". In Anderson, D.T. (ed.). Invertebrate Zoology. Oxford University Press. pp. 28–57. ISBN 0195513681.
  6. ↑ Exposito, J-Y., Cluzel, C., Garrone, R., and Lethias, C. (2002). "Evolution of collagens". The Anatomical Record Part A: Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology. 268 (3): 302–316. doi:10.1002/ar.10162. PMID 12382326. S2CID 12376172.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Hooper, J.N.A., Van Soest, R.W.M., and Debrenne, F. (2002), "Phylum Porifera Grant, 1836", in Hooper, J.N.A., and Van Soest, R.W.M. (ed.), Systema Porifera: A Guide to the Classification of Sponges, New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, pp. 9–14, ISBN 9780306472602, retrieved 2008-11-06{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Helber, Stephanie B.; Hoeijmakers, Dieuwke J. J.; Muhando, Christopher A.; Rohde, Sven; Schupp, Peter J. (2018-06-20). "Sponge chemical defenses are a possible mechanism for increasing sponge abundance on reefs in Zanzibar". PLOS ONE. 13 (6): e0197617. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1397617H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0197617. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6010217. PMID 29924803.
  9. ↑ Kober, K. M.; Nichols, S. A. (December 2007). "On the phylogenetic relationships of hadromerid and poecilosclerid sponges". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK. 87 (6): 1585–1598. doi:10.1017/S0025315407058237. S2CID 84416168.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Vacelet, J. (2008). "A new genus of carnivorous sponges (Porifera: Poecilosclerida, Cladorhizidae) from the deep N-E Pacific, and remarks on the genus Neocladia" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1752: 57–65. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1752.1.3. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  11. ↑ Watling, L. (2007). "Predation on copepods by an Alaskan cladorhizid sponge". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK. 87 (6): 1721–1726. doi:10.1017/S0025315407058560. S2CID 86588792.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Vacelet, J., and Boury-Esnault, N. (January 1995). "Carnivorous sponges". Nature. 373 (6512): 333–335. Bibcode:1995Natur.373..333V. doi:10.1038/373333a0. S2CID 4320216.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ Vacelet, J., and Kelly, M. (September 2008). "New species from the deep Pacific suggest that carnivorous sponges date back to the Early Jurassic". Nature Precedings. doi:10.1038/npre.2008.2327.1. Retrieved 2008-10-31.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ Smolker R.A.; et al. (1997). "Sponge-carrying by Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins: Possible tool-use by a delphinid". Ethology. 103: 454–465. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1997.tb00160.x. hdl:2027.42/71936.
  15. ↑ Krutzen M.; et al. (2005). "Cultural transmission of tool use in bottlenose dolphins". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (25): 8939–8943. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.8939K. doi:10.1073/pnas.0500232102. PMC 1157020. PMID 15947077.. News report at Dolphin Moms Teach Daughters to Use Tools, publisher National Geographic).
  16. ↑ McClenachan, L. (2008). "Social conflict, Over-fishing and Disease in the Florida Sponge Fishery, 1849-1939". In Starkey, D.J. Holm, P., and Barnard, M. (ed.). Oceans Past: Management Insights from the History of Marine Animal Populations. Earthscan. pp. 25–27. ISBN 978-1844075270. Retrieved 2008-11-12.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  17. ↑ Jacobson, N. (2000). Cleavage. Rutgers University Press. p. 62. ISBN 0813527155. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  18. ↑ "Sponges". Cervical Barrier Advancement Society. 2004. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2006-09-17.
  19. ↑ Porterfield, W.M. (July 1955). "Loofah — The sponge gourd". Economic Botany. 9 (3): 211–223. doi:10.1007/BF02859814. S2CID 27313678.
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