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Spongilla lacustris is a species of freshwater sponge from the family Spongillidae. It inhabits freshwater rivers and lakes, often growing under logs or rocks. Lacustris is a Latin word meaning "related to or associated with lakes". [1] The species ranges from North America to Europe and Asia. It is the most common freshwater sponge in central ...
Spongilla is a genus of freshwater sponges containing over 200 different species. Spongilla was first publicly recognized in 1696 by Leonard Plukenet and can be found in lakes, ponds and slow streams. [2] Spongilla have a leuconoid body form with a skeleton composed of siliceous spicules.
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 ]
Turtles and some fish feed mainly on sponges. It is often said that sponges produce chemical defenses against such predators. [18] However, experiments have been unable to establish a relationship between the toxicity of chemicals produced by sponges and how they taste to fish, which would diminish the usefulness of chemical defenses as deterrents.
Many sponges have internal skeletons of spongin and/or spicules of calcium carbonate or silicon dioxide. All sponges are sessile aquatic animals. Although there are freshwater species, the great majority are marine (salt water) species, ranging from tidal zones to depths exceeding 8,800 m (5.5 mi).
Of North American freshwater species, an estimated 48.5% of mussels, 22.8% of gastropods, 32.7% of crayfishes, 25.9% of amphibians, and 21.2% of fish are either endangered or threatened. [24] Extinction rates of many species may increase severely into the next century because of invasive species, loss of keystone species, and species which are ...
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Like other sponges, the elephant ear sponge feeds by drawing water in through its pores, filtering out the bacteria and other fine organic particles and expelling the water through the osculi. [ 4 ] Sponges are unable to defend themselves physically from predators but many have developed chemicals that make them distasteful to fish. [ 4 ]