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Sponge By Alexis Anthony Period 4 Oceanography
Summary Sponges are the simplest form of multi-cellular animals. There are more than 5,000 different types and come in a large variety of colors, shapes and sizes. Most live in salt water, but there are some fresh water species as well. They like to live in clear, rather than murky water, so their pores do not get clogged. Before the mid 20th century, soft sponges were routinely used for helmet padding, water filters, and cleaning tools. Over-fishing resulted in near extinction, so today most sponges in use are made of synthetic materials.
Sponge Anatomy • Heights vary from 1-200cm and diameters range from 1-150cm. • Their walls are lined with many small pores called Ostia http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/sponges.htm which allow constant water flow. This is how they obtain food and oxygen and remove wastes. • Sponges do not have internal organs, muscles, nervous or circulatory systems. • Their bodies are a mass of cells embedded in gelatinous matrix and stiffened by bits of calcium carbonate or silica and collagen.
Sponge Anatomy • Sponges are made of four simple and independent cells. • Collar cells - line the canals in the interior of the sponge. Flagella are attached to the ends of the cells and they help pump water through the sponge’s body. By pumping water, they help bring oxygen and nutrients to the sponge while removing waste and carbon dioxide. • Porocytes - the pores of the sponge. http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Porocytes • Epidermal cells - form the skin on the outside of the sponge. • Amoebocytes - exist between the epidermal and collar cells in an area called the mesohyl. They help transport nutrients and form spicules, which are the sponge’s skeletal fibers. They work together with the collar cells to digest the food for the sponge and produce gametes http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/gametes for sexual reproduction .
Sponge Physiology • Many forms exist – including urn shaped, tubed, branched, and even shapeless • Sponges are filter feeders that sift microscopic particles of food from the water • All digestion in sponges is intracellular; it takes place inside cells • The water flowing through a sponge simultaneously serves as its respiratory, excretory, and internal transport system • As water passes through the body wall, sponge cells remove oxygen from the water and put carbon dioxide into the water
Sponge Taxonomy • Kingdom –Animaliahttp://www.wordiq.com/definition/Animal • Phylum – Porifera(Latin meaning “bearer of pores”) http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Porifera.html • Class – Determined by the sponge’s skeleton • Demospongiae - largest; bath sponge • Hexactinellida (Hyalospongiae) -“glass” sponges • Calcarea (Calcispongiae) – hard; “rock” sponges • There are many different orders, families, genus, and species (over 9,000 species). Some examples include: Order: Poecilosclerida Family: Spongiidae Genus: Aplysina Species: AplysinaLacunosa
Hexactinellida (Glass) Demospongiae (Bath) Calcarea (Rock)
Sponge Ecology • Sponges may live as thin encrusting coatings on rocks and wood, or as long thin branching fingers attached to the bottom of the sea. • Environmental conditions, such as shelter and currents, affect sponge shapes and dimensions. Differences in color are determined by the amount of light available. • Sponges provide housing for many other marine animals such as crustaceans, mollusks, and small fishes. • Symbiotic relationships occur between sponges, algae, and bacteria. Sponges supply protection as the others provide food. Toxins released by a sponge can also provide a solid shield of defense for the organisms within the symbiotic relationship.http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/coral/coral3.htm • Some chemicals that sponges secrete are being used as powerful antibiotics http://www.emedicinehealth.com/antibiotics/article_em.htm to treat bacteria and fungi.
Sponge Reproduction • Most sea sponges are hermaphroditic (having both sexes in one), but produce only one type of gamete per spawn. (some play the male role and the other plays the female role, even though they are both capable of playing either role). • Sponges may reproduce both sexually and asexually.
Sponge Reproduction (sexual) The sperm is released into the water column by the "male" sponge and finds its way to the "female" sponges, where fertilization occurs internally. Eventually, the planktonic larvae are released from the female sponge and float around in the water column as plankton for only a few days. They then settle down and start growing. The next time the sponges reproduce, they may change sexual roles.
Sponge Reproduction (asexual) -by external budding and fragmentation http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Budding (fragments can reattach to the seabed somewhere else). http://biology.about.com/od/genetics/ss/Asexual-Reproduction_3.htm
Sponge Importance to Humans • Natural sea sponges can be used for bathing , cleaning, painting and make-up application. • One of the first drugs used for treating cancer, cytosine arabinoside was isolated from a sea sponge. • Genetic sequencing of sea sponges from the Great Barrier Reef http://www.greatbarrierreef.org/ has revealed the ancient marine animals share almost 70% of human genes, including a large number typically associated with disease and cancer.
Bibliography Bergquist, Patricia R. Sponges. London: Hutchinson, 1978. Gage, John D., and Paul A. Tyler. Deep-sea biology: a natural history of organisms at the deep-sea floor. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. Myers, Phil. "ADW: Porifera: Information." Animal Diversity Web. 06 Jan. 2011 <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Porifera.html>. "PalaeosMetazoa: Porifera: Porifera (Sponges)." Palaeos. 10 Jan. 2011 <http://www.palaeos.com/Invertebrates/Porifera/Porifera.htm>. "Porifera: Anatomy — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. — Infoplease.com. 10 Jan. 2011 <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0860479.html>.
