Marine Science – Unit 6 Phylum Porifera (Sponges) Fill-In Notes
I. What is a Sponge?
- Sponges are ______________________aquatic animals that have a variety of
_____________, shapes, and _______________.
- Although sponges do not resemble more familiar animals, they carry on the
same life processes as all animals.
- Many are bright shades of __________, orange, ____________, and green.
II. Sponges are “pore-bearers”
- Sponges are classified in the invertebrate phylum Porifera, which means
“___________________________.”
- Most live in marine biomes, but about 150 species can be found in
freshwater environments.
- Sponges are mainly _________________ (non-mobile) organisms.
- Because most adult sponges can’t travel in search of food, they get their
food by a process called _________________________.
- Filter feeding is a method in which an organism feeds by filtering small
particles of food from __________________________________________
some part of the organism.
- Direction of water flow through a sponge: Water flows IN through the pore
cells and OUT through the ____________________________
Osculum
Epithelial-like cells
Amoebocytes
Spicules
III. Cell types in the tissues
- Collar cells = cells that contain _____________ that send water into the
sponge’s _______________________.
- Epithelium = is the tissue that protects the __________________________.
The epithelium has _________________ pores through which water enters.
- _____________________________ = cells that pick up nutrient particles
from the ______________________ of water.
IV. Support and defense systems in sponges
- Some sponges have _______, hard _________ located between the cell
layers.
- Spicules may be made of glasslike material or of calcium carbonate.
- Besides _____ spicules, some sponges may have other methods of defense.
- Some sponges contain _____________ that are __________ to fishes and
to other predators.
V. Reproduction in sponges
- Sponges can reproduce ________________ and _______________.
- Depending on the species, asexual reproduction can be by ____________,
fragmentation, or the formation of ________________.
- An external growth, called a _______, can form on a sponge.
- If a bud drops off, it can float away, settle, and grow into a sponge.
- Sometimes, buds _______________ break off. When this occurs, a colony
of sponges forms.
- Often, _______________ of a sponge break off and grow into new sponges.
- Some ________________ sponges produce seed-like particles, called
gemmules, in the fall when waters cool.
- The adult sponges die over the _______________, but the gemmules
survive and grow into new sponges in the __________ when waters warm.
- Most sponges reproduce sexually.
- Some sponges have separate sexes, but most sponges are hermaphrodites.
A ________________________ is an animal that can produce both
__________ and ___________.
- Eggs and sperm form from ___________________________.
- During reproduction, sperm released from one sponge can be carried by
water currents to another sponge, where fertilization can occur.
- Fertilization in sponges may be either external or internal.
- A few sponges have ______________ fertilization—fertilization that occurs
outside the animal’s body.
- Most sponges have _____________ fertilization, in which eggs inside the
animal’s body are fertilized by sperm carried into the sponge with water.
- In sponges, the _________________ collect and transfer ________ to
amoebocytes.
- The amoebocytes then transport the sperm to __________ _________.
VI. Common Sponges
Barrel Sponges
Finger Sponges
Tube Sponges
Rope Sponges