PORIFERA Phylum Porifera Porifera Porus means holes ferre

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PORIFERA

PORIFERA

Phylum Porifera • Porifera: Porus means holes, ferre means to bear. • Includes sponges

Phylum Porifera • Porifera: Porus means holes, ferre means to bear. • Includes sponges • Most primitive true animals • Almost 10, 000 marine species of sponges.

Where sponges live Just kidding!

Where sponges live Just kidding!

Where Sponges Live • Widely distributed • Intertidal zone to abyssal plain • Found

Where Sponges Live • Widely distributed • Intertidal zone to abyssal plain • Found at all latitudes • Benthic

Morphology • Can as small as a bean to the size of a small

Morphology • Can as small as a bean to the size of a small car. • 3 basic shapes: • Branching • Vase-like • Encrusting • Most lack symmetry

Morphology • Three main grades of sponges. • Ascon: Sacs with a single chamber.

Morphology • Three main grades of sponges. • Ascon: Sacs with a single chamber. • Sycon: Numerous chambers with central opening. • Leucon: Most common. A series of sycon chambers are connected to a large central opening.

Sponge Spicules • Spicules are a sponge’s skeletal network made of calcite or silica

Sponge Spicules • Spicules are a sponge’s skeletal network made of calcite or silica (quartz). • These prevent the internal chambers and canals from collapsing. • Some sponges also have a fibrous protein called spongin that serves the same purpose as spicules. • Sponges that are sold (natural ones) have been treated to remove the spicule matrix which makes the sponge softer.

Types of Spicules

Types of Spicules

Classes of Sponges • 3 Classes based on spicules. • Calcarea: Sponges with calcitic

Classes of Sponges • 3 Classes based on spicules. • Calcarea: Sponges with calcitic spicules or porous calcareous walls without spicules. • Demospongea: Skeletons of spongin and siliceous spicules or just siliceous spicules. • Hexactinellida: Glass sponges with complex siliceous spicules.

Morphology • Typical sponge is sac- shaped with a central cavity called an osculum.

Morphology • Typical sponge is sac- shaped with a central cavity called an osculum. • Sponges are perforated with pore openings called Ostia which filter currents.