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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. Several sponge species are able to convert coral-derived DOM into sponge detritus, [62] [63] and transfer organic matter produced by corals ...
English: Diagram of a syconoid sponge. (Derivative of File:Sea sponge.svg, with humor removed.) Based off of File:Porifera body structures 01.png 2, 3 and some others.
Hexactinellid sponges are sponges with a skeleton made of four- and/or six-pointed siliceous spicules, often referred to as glass sponges. They are usually classified along with other sponges in the phylum Porifera , but some researchers consider them sufficiently distinct to deserve their own phylum, Symplasma .
Then, during the German Deep Sea Expedition "Valdivia" (1898-1899), Schulze described the largest known siliceous hexactinellid sponge, the up to three metres high Monorhaphis chuni. This sponge develops the also largest known bio-silicate structures, giant basal spicules, three metres high and one centimetre thick.
All three sponge body plans (asconoid, syconoid, and leuconoid) can be found within the class Calcarea. Typically, calcareous sponges are small, measuring less than 10 cm (3.9 in) in height, and drab in colour. However, a few brightly coloured species are also known. Like the Homoscleromorpha, calcareous sponges are exclusively viviparous. [7]
The giant barrel sponge is common on reefs throughout the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the reefs and hard-bottom areas of Florida,and the Gulf of Mexico.In terms of benthic surface coverage, it is the second most abundant sponge on reefs in the Caribbean region. [8]
Halichondria panicea, commonly known as the breadcrumb sponge, [2] is a species of sea sponge belonging to the family Halichondriidae. This is an abundant sponge of coastal areas of the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea ranging from the intertidal zone to a recorded depth of over 550 m.
About 311 million years ago, in the Late Carboniferous, the order Spongillida split from the marine sponges, and is the only sponges to live in freshwater environments. [8] Some species are brightly colored, with great variety in body shape; the largest species are over 1 m (3.3 ft) across. [ 6 ]