sponges

phylum

porifera

filter feeders

feed by passing water across structures that trap tiny food bits

choanocytes

create currents; trap & ingest food bits (phagocytosis)

amoebocytes

distribute food

body supported by

hard spicules and protein fibers (spongin)

• made by amoebocytes in mesohyl

silica spicules

sand and glass

calcium carbonate spicules

susceptible to dissolving with changes in pH

• bad with global warming issues

reproduction

fragmentation

sexual reproduction

hermaphroditic

no gonads

gametes form in mesohyl (amoebocytes)

larvae

flagellated → part of the life cycle where the sponge moves