#porifera

[azurfishe]

here lies Jax

[herpsandbirds]

Lyre Sponge or Harp Sponge (Chondrocladia lyra), family Cladorhizidae, order Poecilosclerida, class Demospongiae

Found at depths of 800–11,500 ft (3,300–3,500 m), off the coast of northern California, at the Escanaba Ridge and the Monterey Canyon.

Carnivorous.

photograph by Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

The harp sponge: an extraordinary new species of carnivorous sponge

Oct. 31st, 2012

In this video we describe a new species of carnivorous sponge, Chondrocladia lyra from the deep-sea off California. C. lyra is called the harp sponge because its basic structure, called a vane, is shaped like a harp or lyre. Each vane consists of a horizontal branch supporting several parallel, vertical branches. Clinging with root-like "rhizoids" to the soft, muddy sediment, the harp sponge captures tiny animals that are swept into its branches by deep-sea currents. Typically, sponges feed by straining bacteria and bits of organic material from the seawater they filter through their bodies. However, carnivorous harp sponges snare their prey—tiny crustaceans—with barbed hooks that cover the sponge's branching limbs. Once the harp sponge has its prey in its clutches, it envelops the animal in a thin membrane, and then slowly begins to digest it. The harp sponge's unusual shape and exposure to currents may also help it to reproduce more effectively. The swollen balls at the tip of the sponge's upright branches produce packets of sperm. These sperm packets are released into passing currents and are captured on the branches of other nearby sponges. The sperm then works its way from the packets into the host sponge to fertilize its eggs. As the fertilized eggs mature, these contact sites swell up, forming bulges part way up the host sponge's branches (see photo).

via: MBARI

Read the original paper here:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ivb.12001

[misidentifying-animals-in-posts]

Potato sponge (Chondrilla nucula). Absorbing them

[harmony-bunny]

(1/2) My fave SpongeBob screenshots (Season 3)

[dinoserious]

invertober day 19, yellow tube sponge! absolute classic animal imo

[isitabug]

phylum octofinals, round three:

echinodermata (starfish, sea urchins, etc)

pictured species: Fromia indica, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, Oxycomanthus bennetti, Isostichopus badionotus

vs

porifera (sponges)

pictured species: Aplysina fistularis, Xestospongia testudinaria, Spongilla lacustris, Euplectella aspergillum

which phylum do you like more ?

echinodermata

porifera

Voting ended onJun 30

[typhlonectes]

Rare Sea Creature Hoards Toxic Metals as a Fascinating Survival Strategy

It can be a brutal world out there, and the vulnerable sometimes have to turn to creative solutions to ensure their survival. Take a sea sponge called Theonella conica. This unassuming animal can be found in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, doing what sponges do, filtering the seawater around them to extract the nutrients within. Anchored in place, with little in the way of active defense, T. conica has evolved a truly fascinating means of survival. Scientists studying the accumulation of pollutants in the sponge's body found concentrations of a heavy metal called  molybdenum that, in other organisms, would be fatal...

Read more: https://www.sciencealert.com/rare-sea-creature-hoards-toxic-metals-as-a-fascinating-survival-strategy

[fishstarrz]

Since the scientific community has not made a clear decision I will let tumblr decide

who is our oldest living ancestor??

Who did you evolve from??

Comb jelly

Sea sponge

Voting ended onJul 6