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The term sponge derives from the Ancient Greek word σπόγγος spóngos. [9] The scientific name Porifera is a neuter plural of the Modern Latin term porifer, which comes from the roots porus meaning "pore, opening", and -fer meaning "bearing or carrying".
Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include greater than 90% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). [5] They are sponges with a soft body that covers a hard, often massive skeleton made of calcium carbonate, either aragonite or calcite [citation ...
The sponges of Venezuela are a part of the Porifera fauna of Venezuela (which is part of the wildlife of Venezuela). A number of species of sponges are found in the wild in Venezuela. This is a partial list of the marine and freshwater sponges of Venezuela. The families are listed alphabetically within the classes.
All sponges in this class are strictly marine, and, while they are distributed worldwide, most are found in shallow tropical waters. Like nearly all other sponges, they are sedentary filter feeders. All three sponge body plans (asconoid, syconoid, and leuconoid) can be found within the class Calcarea. Typically, calcareous sponges are small ...
They are found in all oceans of the world, although they are particularly common in Antarctic and Northern Pacific waters. [ 3 ] They are more-or-less cup-shaped animals, ranging from 10 to 30 centimetres (3.9 to 11.8 in) in height, with sturdy skeletons made of glass -like silica spicules , fused to form a lattice.
The list follows the SANBI listing on iNaturalist, and does not always agree with WoRMS for distribution. Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the metazoan phylum Porifera (/ p ə ˈ r ɪ f ər ə ˌ p ɔː-/ pər-IF-ər-ə, por-; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal animal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts.
Porifera (sponges), multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them; Priapulida, or penis worms, are a phylum of marine worms that live marine mud. They are named for their extensible spiny proboscis, which, in some species, may have a shape like that of a human penis;
Homoscleromorpha are exclusively marine sponges that tend to encrust on other surfaces at shallow depths. These sponges typically inhabit shady locations, under overhangs and inside caves. In the Mediterranean Sea, 82% of the species in this taxon can be found in caves, and 41% of them are found nowhere else. [10]