Phylum Porifera
A Phylum consisting of sponges
Description
Porifera are the simplest multicellular animals in existence. They are bottom dwelling aquatic animals that lack, a nervous, digestive, and circulatory system. Their bodies are covered in pores and holes. The water that flows through them helps them survive.
Porifera General Characteristics
Invertebrate
Cylindrical
Multicellular
Marine Creatures
Asexual and Sexual
Porous
Special Adaptations
The ability to sift food and needed nutrients from the water
Regrow damaged parts of the sponge
Reproduce sexually and asexually
Bodily Functions
Feeding, Digestion, Circulatory, Nervous, and Excretion Systems
Sponges are unlike other animals. Their cells are held so loosely together they don't for tissues and consequently, don't have organs. They rely on water to do their bodily functions. Food, oxygen, needed nutrients are all obtained trough the constant flowing of water through the Ostia. Waste is also expelled into the water and carried away. Sponges do not have a nervous system, and because of this don't feel things.
Movement
Porifera move very little if at all. At maximum sponges move 1 millimeter a day. Some Porifera are sessile which mean they attach to something and don't move.
Nervous
Sponges do not have a nervous system. They do not feel things or react.
Reproduction
Most proferia are hermaphrodites which mean they are both sexual and asexual. Although most sexually reproduce. Some produce asexually by mitosis and budding. In asexually reproducing sponges mitosis occurs or in some species the sponges send different parts of their body out to form new sponges. For sexually reproducing sponges, sperm is sent into the water where it will then find a female sponge. and be transported to the eggs. After the eggs are fertilized they are sent into the water as a larve. Once the larva finds a place to settle they attach to the ground and become a juvenile sponge.
Other Facts about Porferia
Porferia
- are not plants as you may presume but animals
- over 5000 species
- lack brains, eyes, bones, nerves, organs, or muscles
- live in salt water and fresh water
- been around for 10,000 times as long as homo sapiens
- Sponges have been on our planet longer than any other animal
- Makeup 75% of the biomass on the ocean floor in Antarctica
- Some produce chemicals to deter predators
- Some live at depths where light doesn't hit the sea floor
- Some can bring in 20000 times their volume in water in a day
Works Cited
"Corals vs Sponges." Corals vs Sponges - Difference and Comparison | Diffen. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2017.
Jose, Cherilyn, and By. "10 Facts You Didn’t Know About Sea Sponges." Ocean of Hope. N.p., 07 May 2015. Web. 10 May 2017.
Marine Species Identification Portal. ETI BioInformatics, n.d. Web.