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Filter large amounts of bacteria out of the water.

Provide shelter for several small animals

Example: algae and shrimp

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Named purely by their appearance sponges are from the phylum Porifera

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There are over 11,000 described species and 9000 living species

Around 150 of these live in freshwater and the rest are found in the ocean or brackish water

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Do not have heads, eyes, brains, arms, legs, ears, muscles, nerves and organs

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Genetic analysis has revealed they are the most primitive (still have very similar characteristics found at the beginning of their evolutionary history) animal group alive today

Probably some of the first animals to ever appear on the earth

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Sponges have multiple pores called ostia and a main opening called osculum

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Water is drawn into the sponge through the ostia due to the beating of specialized cells called choanocytes

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Incoming water carries oxygen and suspending particles

Example of particles: bacteria, tiny algae, and organic detritus

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The choanocytes line the inner chambers of the sponge

Have a collar-like structure with a flagellum

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The flagellum is used to capture food particles by creating microvortices to trap the particles.

The trapped food transports to the amoeboid cells called archaeocytes that perform intercellular digestion

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Archaeocytes break down the captured food particles into amino acids and sugars.

Nutrients are distributed by diffusion through the cells as sponges lack circulatory system.

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After filtering and feeding, the filtered water and waste products exit sponge body through the osculum.

Water flow is unidirectional where is moves from the ostia to osculum

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most sponges are hermaphrodites which mean they can function as both male and female, and they can produce both sperm and eggs in sexual reproduction.

cross-fertilization is the norm due to the sperm and oocytes being produced at different times.

choanocytes or amoebocytes (depending on the species by gametogenesis) produce sperm and oocytes.

the oocytes remain in the mesoglea in the sponge whereas the sperm are released into the water via the osculum where they can enter other surrounding sponges via the ostia.

the choanocytes that line the interior of the sponge would trap the sperms and transport them to the oocytes without a tail. the sperm would then fertilize the oocyte.

after fertilization, the zygote would develop into a larva.

it would be released into the water through the osculum, where it would be free-swimming and disperse and swim away from the sponge using their external flagella. they would lose their ability to move as they develop and eventually settle on the seabed or other surfaces to grow into an adult sponge.

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sponges can regenerate their own body parts completely and grow into new adults. it helps the sponges to repair any damage in harsh environments. if a sponge has a small piece cut out but carrying amoebocytes and choanocytes, it can grow into a full-size adult sponge in favourable environmental conditions. the individual sponge would be an exact copy of the parent sponge.

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the sponge would develop into an individual sponge while attached to the parent sponge and would detach later on or attach to a nearby rock and become an adult. the individual sponge would be an exact copy of the parent sponge.

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the parent sponge reproduces by fission by throwing out its own body parts which will then develop into an individual adult sponge. when an adult sponge has body parts that are enlarged, that body part would eventually develop a line of fission which is weak, which would then split the body part from the main adult sponge body and grow into an individual sponge. the individual sponge would be an exact copy of the parent sponge.

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Scientific name is Porifera which means pore-bearing

It is part of the basal clade which means it is the earliest lineages to be branched

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ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION: FORMATION OF REDUCTION BODIES

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ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION: FORMATION OF REDUCTION BODIES

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in harsh environmental conditions, the sponge would desiccate itself into balls called reduction bodies. when the conditions become favourable for growth, the reduction bodies would grow into individual sponges.

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ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION: FORMATION OF GEMMULES

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ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION: FORMATION OF GEMMULES

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besides reduction bodies, sponges can desiccate themselves to form gemmules (internal buds) in harsh environmental conditions. a gemmule is an asexually reproduced mass of cells that are capable of growing into an individual sponge. they would remain dormant in harsh conditions, similar to endospores, due to the layer of protection around them made of micropyle, monaxon spicules and archaecytes. when there are favourable environmental conditions, the gemmules can hatch to grow into individual sponges.

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Can sponges be easily found in Singapore

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"venus flower basket"

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lives in aquatic habitats

found in shallow waters to great depths

grows on hard surfaces (e.g. boulders, jetty pilings, etc)

can be found under stones or hiding places

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Sponges can also be commonly found in Singapore

Can be found at

Chek Jawa

Changi

Labrador

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http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/porifera/porifera.htm

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https://byjus.com/question-answer/how-do-sponges-reproduce-asexually/

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https://www.iaszoology.com/reproduction-sponges/