Phylum Porifera contains about 5,000 living species of sponges. Sponges are the most primitive of all animals and exist in three main groups - Hexactinellida, Demospongia, and Calcarea. Sponges feed by filtering water through their outer walls to intake bacteria and remove waste, though they are generally non-motile. They can reproduce both sexually, releasing sperm to fertilize females of the same species, and asexually through budding.