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In particular, sponges occupy an important role as detritivores in coral reef food webs by recycling detritus to higher trophic levels. [61] The hypothesis has been made that coral reef sponges facilitate the transfer of coral-derived organic matter to their associated detritivores via the production of sponge detritus, as shown in the diagram.
A sponge defense is a trait that increases a sponge fitness when faced with a spongivore. This is measured relative to another sponge that lacks the defensive trait. Sponge defenses increase survival and/or reproduction of sponges under pressure of predation from a spongivore.
Giant Barrel Sponges filter a tremendous amount of water throughout their lifespan (some living up to 2000 years) which increases water clarity, controls algae, and affects coral populations. These sponges also serve as a habitat for many other species such as other invertebrates, benthic fish, bacteria, and cyanobacteria.
These cells have a dual function: ingesting food particles, and maintaining the flow of water through the sponge's body. Between the two layers a more or less gelatinous substance called mesohyl. Sclerocyte cells are responsible for secreting a kind of skeleton for supporting the sponge's body, formed of spongin fibers.
Sponges within the genus Aplysina are typically found throughout the Caribbean basin, but some have been found down the coast of South America. [6] Most observations of Aplysina cauliformis have taken place in shallow-water coral reefs, where sponges are beginning to make up more of the foundation than corals due to warming ocean temperatures. [6]
South Florida researchers trying to prevent predatory fish from devouring laboratory-grown coral are grasping at biodegradable straws in an effort to restore what some call the rainforest of the sea.
Some sponges live to great ages; there is evidence of the deep-sea glass sponge Monorhaphis chuni living about 11,000 years. [ 213 ] [ 214 ] While most of the approximately 5,000–10,000 known species feed on bacteria and other food particles in the water, some host photosynthesizing micro-organisms as endosymbionts and these alliances often ...
University of Miami scientists and volunteers planted a diverse range of staghorn coral fragments onto a bleaching reef to test which populations can survive South Florida’s warming waters.