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Sponges constitute the phylum Porifera, and have been defined as sessile metazoans (multicelled immobile animals) that have water intake and outlet openings connected by chambers lined with choanocytes, cells with whip-like flagella. [13]: 29 However, a few carnivorous sponges have lost these water flow systems and the choanocytes.
Some molecular analyses suggest the class Calcarea is not exclusively related to other sponges, and should thus be designated as a phylum. This would also render Porifera (the sponge phylum) paraphyletic. Borchiellini et al. (2001) argued that calcareans were more closely related to Eumetazoa (non-sponge animals) than to other sponges. [9]
The use of bath sponges for bathing and other purposes originated in Greece and spread all around Europe during the Middle Ages. From there, the use of sponges spread further, with Mediterranean bath sponges currently being shipped globally. [2] S. officinalis was used by humans in many ways in the past.
The Porifera phylum contains all sponges which are characterized by the small pores on the outer layer, which take in water. The cells in the sponge walls filter food from the water. Whatever is not uptaken by the sponge is pumped through the body out of a large opening. The class demosponges are
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 ...
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 .
Hippospongia communis also known as the honeycomb bath sponge, is a marine sponge in the phylum Porifera. Hippospongia communis is a brown or darker color [ 1 ] and very porous, due to its many oscules , and is commonly found in shallow waters of the Mediterranean .
Using their ostia and osculum these sponges filter the water for various small aquatic organisms such as protozoans, bacteria, and other free-floating pond life. [4] Sponges of the genus Spongilla partake in symbiotic relationships with green algae, zoochlorellae. The symbiotic zoochlorellae give the sponges a green appearance and without them ...