PORIFERA PPT BY VISHNU SHESHATHRI

1. Phylum Porifera
“Sponges”
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Classes: Hexactinellida
Demospongia
Calcarea

2. Phylum Porifera
• Sponges
• 5,000 living species
• Three Distinct Groups:
– Hexactinellida (glass
sponges)
– Demospongia
– Calcarea (calcareous
sponges)
• Most primitive of all
animals

3. Major Characteristics:
• Feed by filtering water through their outer
walls and pumping it out of body
• Flow of water is uni-directional
• Generally non-motile but can move up to
4 mm per day
• Almost all are marine organisms
• Amorphous & Assymetrical

4. Feeding:
• Flow of water through
the sponge allows for
feeding, waste removal,
and the intake of oxygen
• A combination of
pressure, flagella, and
contractile movements
pump water
• Filter Bacteria as a food
source
Moving Water/Current = Low
Pressure
Water pumped in through the walls

5. Reproduction:
• Can reproduce sexually
and asexually
• Sexually they release
large amounts sperm that
are taken in by females
of the same species
• Sexually they could be
hermaphrodites (a
boy/girl in the same
organism)
• Asexually they produce
buds

6. Structure / Anatomy:
• No tissues or organs
• Each type of sponge
cell is responsible for
a specific function

7. Skeletal / Muscular:
• Opening at top called
the osculum
• Gelatinous interior
called the mesohyl
• The interior cavity
called the
spongocoel
OSCULUM - opening
MESOHYL
SPONGOCOEL

8. Skeletal / Muscular:
• The skeleton is made up of calcium carbonate
splinters called spicules and/or a protein based
mesh like substance called spongin

9. Skeletal / Muscular:
• The structural wall consists of the outer
pinacocyte cells, a middle layer of gelatin
containg amoebocyte cells, while the interior
consists of the collar cells which have flagella

10. Circulatory:
• Amoeboid Cells in
the wall transport
food and
nutrients

11. Excretory:
• All wastes are
purged through
the main pore
called the
osculum

12. Respiratory / Nervous
• Various cells take in oxygen through
diffusion
• No nervous system is present

13. Class: Demospongia
• Most diversity
• 90% of species
fall into this class
• Can consist of
spongin and / or
silica spicules