Porifera, Zoology: Invertebrates

Related Category: Zoology: Invertebrates

Most sponges belong in this class. It includes sponges with a skeleton made up of silicon-containing spicules or spongin fibers or both. In the latter case, the spongin provides a matrix in which the spicules are embedded. The Demospongiae vary in size from small, encrusting forms to very large, irregular masses. All are leuconoid; many are brightly colored. The freshwater sponges (family Spongillidae) belong to this class; they are frequently green because of symbiotic algae that live in the amoebocytes. The fibrous sponges also belong to this class; they include the common bath sponges, Hippospongia communis and Spongia officinalis, and most of the other sponges used commercially. The boring sponges (family Clionidae) are extremely interesting because of their ability to bore into calcareous rocks and mollusk shells. They begin their boring as larvae and spend their lives in the tunnels they form. Sulfur sponges (Cliona species) are bright yellow boring forms inhabiting shallow waters on the east and west coasts of the United States.