Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Sponge loop hypothesis. Steps of the sponge loop pathway: (1) corals and algae release exudates as dissolved organic matter (DOM), (2) sponges take up DOM, (3) sponges release detrital particulate organic matter (POM), (4) sponge detritus (POM) is taken up by sponge-associated and free-living detritivores. [61] [63] [75] The sponge holobiont.
The circulation of water brings in food particles and sperm, both of which are collected by choanocytes. In addition to the pinacocyte and choanocyte layers, sponges also have a non-living mesohyl layer that is located between the two living layers. Despite being made up of non-living material, the mesohyl contains living cells called archaeocytes.
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 ...
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 ]
A handful of centuries-old sponges from deep in the Caribbean are causing some scientists to think human-caused climate change began sooner and has heated the world more than they thought. Other ...
[3] [4] Together, a sponge and its microbiome form a holobiont, with a single sponge often containing more than 40 bacterial phyla, making sponge microbial environments a diverse and dense community. [ 2 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Furthermore, individual holobionts work hand in hand with other near holobionts becoming a nested ecosystem, affecting the ...
Sponges are hermaphrodites, producing both egg and sperm. Sperm is released from one sponge and brought in through the ostia of another sponge. Once the sperm reaches the body cavity it is fertilized and develops into a free-swimming larvae. The free-swimming larvae are released out the osculum and will eventually settle and attach elsewhere. [6]
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.