Sponges(Spongia) is a phylum of invertebrates. Sponges are probably descended from colonial collared flagellar protozoa, forming a blind branch at the base of the metazoan phylogenetic tree.

Sponges originated in the Precambrian (approximately 1 billion 200 million years ago!, That is, they are very ancient organisms), they reached their greatest prosperity in the Mesozoic.

Sponges are predominantly marine organisms, not many are freshwater. Outwardly, sponges are even difficult to mistake for animals. They sit completely motionless, attached to the substrate, and do not react to irritation in any way. Sponges are more often colonial organisms, but solitary ones are also found. To the touch, the sponges are firm, hard. Freshwater badyagi are gray or greenish, but sea sponges are often brightly colored. Coloring depends on the presence of pigment cells. Many sponges have a specific unpleasant taste and smell, so they are not edible and no one touches them.

Sponges are distinguished by an extremely primitive organization. Their body does not have any symmetry, it shapeless. Inside the goblet or sac-shaped body (a few mm to 1.5 m or more in height) of a typical sponge is paragastric cavity opening at the top estuarine hole. Sponges do not have real organs and tissues, but their body consists of a variety of cellular elements. On the surface of the body are flat cells - pinacocytes, from the inside, the paragastric cavity is lined with flagellated collar cells, or choanocytes. Between the layer of pinacocytes and the layer of choanocytes lies a structureless substance - mesoglea containing amoebocytes, collencites, scleroblasts and other cells. There are many sponges on the surface of the body since leading to channels penetrating the walls of the body. Depending on the degree of development of the canal system, the localization of choanocytes and the flagellar chambers formed by them, 3 types of sponge structure are distinguished: ascon, Seacon and leukone.

Almost all Sponges have skeleton, formed by siliceous or calcareous needles, in horny sponges, the skeleton consists of the protein substance of spongin.

The vital activity of sponges is associated with continuous straining through the body of water, which, due to the beating of the flagella of many choanocytes, enters the pores and, having passed through the system of channels, flagellar chambers and the paragastric cavity, exits through the mouth. With water, food particles (detritus, protozoa, diatoms, bacteria, etc.) enter the sponge and metabolic products are removed. Food capture is carried out by choanocytes and canal wall cells.

Most sponges - hermaphrodites. A larva develops from an egg - parenchymula, or amphiblastula, which comes out, swims, then settles to the bottom and turns into a young sponge. During metamorphosis, a process characteristic only of sponges, the so-called perversions germinal leaflets, in which the cells of the outer layer migrate inward, and the cells of the inner layer are on the surface. In addition, sponges are widespread budding and education gemmul- Varieties of asexual reproduction.

All sponges, as mentioned earlier, are aquatic, mainly marine colonial, less often solitary animals leading a motionless lifestyle. They are found from the coastal zone and almost to the maximum depths of the ocean, the most diverse and numerous on the shelf (the shelf is a flat, not deep zone of the seabed). More than 300 species of sponges live in the northern and Far Eastern seas of our country, about 30 species in the Black Sea, and 1 species of sponges in the Caspian Sea. In total, about 2500 species have been described so far.

Sponge type is divided into 4 classes. The classification of sponges is based on the structure of the skeleton.

Class 1. Ordinary sponges(Demospongiae). In these sponges, the skeleton is formed by uniaxial or four-beam flint needles. Channel system of leukonoid type. Usually colonial, rarely solitary forms, predominantly marine forms. This most numerous class of modern sponges is represented by 2 orders: Silicon-horned and Four-beam sponges.

In silicon-horned sponges, the skeleton consists of siliceous uniaxial needles and organic matter - spongin or from spongy fibers alone, forming a mesh, less often tree-branched support of the body. Basically, these are colonial forms that look like crusty or cushion-like growths, unevenly overgrown lumps, plates, or various kinds of tubular, funnel-shaped, stalked, bushy and other formations, up to 0.5 m or more in height. The cream-horned sponges include the known to us badyagi and several types Toiletries sponges. Toilet sponges are used for toilet, medical and technical purposes. The fishing of these sponges is developed in the Mediterranean and Red Seas, off the coast of about. Madagascar, Philippines, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. The most valued is the so-called Greek sponge(Euspongia officinalis).

In four-beam sponges, the body is spherical, ovoid, goblet-shaped, cushion-shaped, usually up to 0.5 m high. The skeleton is formed by flint, usually four-beam (hence the name) or their derivatives - uniaxial needles located radially in the body. Also colonial, rarely solitary forms. They live mainly to a depth of 400 m. The four-beam sponges include the family Drilling jaws, or klions. These sponges are able to make moves inside any calcareous substrate, leaving rounded holes with a diameter of about 1 mm on its surface. It is believed that the drilling mechanism is due to the simultaneous action of carbon dioxide secreted by the surface cells of drilling sponges and the contractile efforts of these cells. About 20 species, mainly in shallow waters of warm seas. In our country - 3 species, in the Japanese, Black, White and Barents Seas. These sponges are dangerous pests of oyster jars.

Class 2. Lime sponges(Calcispongiae). The skeleton of these sponges is formed by three-, four-beam and uniaxial needles of calcium carbonate. The body is often barrel-shaped or tubular. The only class of sponges in which sponges with all 3 types of channel system are marked. Lime sponges are small solitary (up to 7 cm high) or colonial organisms. Over 100 species, distributed exclusively in the seas of temperate latitudes, mainly in shallow water. Representatives Seacon, Sikandra, Leukandra, asceta.

Class 3. Coral sponges(Sclerospongiae). colonial sponges. The width of the colonies is up to 1 m, the height is 0.5 m. They are known from the Mesozoic. The skeleton consists of a basal mass of aragonite or calcite and uniaxial siliceous needles. Living tissue covers only a thin layer (about 1-2 mm thick) on the surface of coral sponges. Channel system of leukonoid type. Only 10 species live in shallow water among the coral reefs of the West Indies, the western parts of the Pacific and Indian oceans, in the Mediterranean Sea and off about. Madeira.

Class 4. Glass sponges, or Six-beam sponges (Hyalospongia, or Hexactinellida). Known since the Cambrian. The most diverse and numerous were in the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era. Skeleton of flint six-beam needles (or their derivatives) with rays lying in three mutually perpendicular planes. Mostly solitary, bag-shaped, tubular, goblet-shaped or barrel-shaped forms, up to 1.5 m high. About 500 species. Oceanic organisms that usually live at depths of over 100 m. Glass sponges are very beautiful and are used as decorations. For example, a sponge basket of Venus, euplektella, hyalonema.

Including about 10,000 known species living on Earth today. Members of this type of animal are calcareous sponges, ordinary sponges, six-rayed sponges. Adult sponges are sedentary animals that live by attaching themselves to rocky surfaces, shells, or other underwater objects, while the larvae are free-swimming. Most sponges live in the marine environment, but a few species can be found in freshwater.

Description

Sponges are primitive multicellular animals that do not have a digestive, circulatory or nervous system. They have no organs and the cells do not organize a well-defined structure.

There are three main classes of sponges. Glass sponges have a skeleton that is made up of brittle, glassy needles formed from silica. Ordinary sponges are often brightly colored and grow larger than other sponges. Ordinary sponges account for more than 90 percent of all modern types of sponges. Lime sponges are the only class of sponges that have spicules composed of calcium carbonate. Lime sponges are usually smaller than other members of the type.

The body of a sponge is like a bag, perforated with many small holes or pores. The walls of the body are made up of three layers:

• the outer layer of flat cells of the epidermis;
• middle layer, which consists of gelatinous substance and amoeboid cells migrating within the layer;
• the inner layer is formed from flagella and collar (choanocytes) cells.

Food

Sponges feed by filtering water. They suck in water through pores located along the entire body wall in the central cavity. The central cavity is lined with collar cells, which have a ring of tentacles surrounding the flagellum. The movement of the flagellum creates a current that retains water flowing through the central cavity into a hole in the top of the sponge called the osculum. As water passes through the collar cells, food is captured by the rings of tentacles. Further, food is digested in food or amoeboid cells in the middle layer of the wall.

The water flow also provides a constant supply of oxygen and removes nitrogenous waste. Water exits the sponge through a large hole in the top of the body called the osculum.

Classification

Sponges are divided into the following major taxonomic groups:

• lime sponges (Calcarea);
• Ordinary sponges (Demospongiae);
• Six-beam sponges, or glass sponges (Hexactinellida, Hyalospongia).

The underwater world is so diverse and unique that sometimes it is even difficult to distinguish plants from animals. Such bizarre forms are the creatures living there. Large sea giants and very microscopic planktonic crustaceans, colorful and bright, predators and herbivores - an insane variety of species of living organisms. One of these amazing creatures are sponges, which will be discussed later.

general information

You can characterize the position of these animals in the following way:

• empire - Cellular;
• kingdom - Animals;
• subkingdom - Multicellular;
• type - Sponges.

To date, it is known that there are about 8 thousand species. 300 of them inhabit the expanses of the seas of our country.

Classification

The Sponge type combines all known representatives into four large classes.

1. Calcarea, or Calcareous. Formed in the form of deposited calcium salts.
2. Ordinary, or Kremnerogovye. The main representative is a badyaga.
3. Glass (Six-beam). The class size is small.
4. Coral - a very poor species class.

All of these sponges have their own characteristics not only external, but also internal structure, lifestyle and economic importance in human life.

External structure

Perhaps the most unusual in the whole characterization of the animals in question will be precisely the external appearance. The features of the external structure of the sponge are determined by the variety of body shapes that are characteristic of them. So, representatives of different classes can be in the form:

• glasses;
• bowls;
• tree structure.

The symmetry of the body in single forms is bipolar axial, in colonial forms it is mixed. Each individual has a special flat sole, with which it is attached to the bottom or other substrate. Sponges lead most often an immobile way of life.

On the upper side of the body is a special opening, which is called the "osculum". It serves to remove excess water from the internal cavity. Outside, the body is covered with a layer of cells - pinacoderm. They resemble in their structure the epithelial tissue of higher animals.

However, they also have distinctive features - the presence of wide pores. The structure of the sponge provides for the absorption of food particles not through the upper hole, but through numerous perforations penetrating the entire body, capable of contracting and expanding.

Under the outer layer are two more, which we will consider in more detail later. The color scheme of both single and colonial forms is quite diverse. There are the following types of coloring:

• gray;
• green;
• purple;
• yellow;
• white;
• red;
• brown;
• mixed.

The Sponge type brings the underwater world to life, making it even brighter, more colorful and attractive. Moreover, if we consider a single individual on the land surface, then it will have a very unattractive appearance: a brownish slippery lump resembling a raw liver, emitting a not very pleasant aroma.

The internal structure of representatives

Sponge body types are similar, whether solitary or attached to a colony. Immediately under the dermal outer layer of porous cells is a special intercellular substance that forms a fairly voluminous membrane. In it, the cells are located loosely, and their shape is different. The tissue is somewhat reminiscent of fatty tissue in higher terrestrial representatives. This structure is called mesohyl.

Under this layer is an internal cavity lined with a special row of cells. This is the gastric layer. All food goes here, and digestion takes place here. All waste products, together with excess water, are sent to the upper opening of the body and are brought out through it.

Also, the structure of the sponge necessarily includes a kind of skeleton. It is formed from lime, phosphorus, organic salts, which are produced in special mesochil cells. It not only gives the sponges a certain shape of the body, but is also important for the preservation of the internal cavity from mechanical damage.

The characteristic of the Sponge type will be incomplete if the main feature of these animals is not indicated - their body does not have tissues, but only includes layers of various shapes and forms. This is the main difference between the considered animals from all others.

The aquifer system of individuals is also interesting. It may be different for different classes. There are three main types of it:

1. Ascon - all communication with the external environment is carried out through a system of tubes through which water moves into special cell-chambers. The most simplified aquifer system found in a few representatives.
2. Seacon. A more advanced system, which includes a network of branched tubules and tubules that flow into special cell-cameras with flagella.
3. Leikon - a whole network of osculums, this type of aquifer system is typical only for colonial forms. The most complicated option against the background of all the previous ones.

Sponges reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sex cells are formed in the mesohyl layer. Then the products go out through the pores of the body and with the flow of water enter the bodies of other sponges, where fertilization occurs. As a result, a zygote is formed, giving rise to a larva. The fry can be called differently: amphiblastula, parenchymula, celloblastula.

If we talk about that, it is based on the process of budding, that is, detachment with subsequent regeneration of the missing structures. For the most part, the Sponge type includes hermaphroditic animals.

Lifestyle features

If we consider the whole variety of multicellular animals of the world, then sponges should be attributed to the most primitive stage in terms of organization. However, these are also the most ancient animals that appeared many thousands of years ago. During the evolution of their organization, little has changed, they retain their characteristics over time. The life form of representatives has two manifestations:

• single;
• colonial.

Most often, mass accumulations of sponges are found among coral reefs. There are both freshwater species (their minority) and oceans (the overwhelming majority of species).

The Sponge type includes animals that feed on small organisms or their remains. In the structure of their body there are special collar cells with flagella. They just capture the floating particles of food, directing them into the internal paragastric cavity of the body. Digestion takes place inside the cells.

According to the method of obtaining food, sponges can be called passive hunters. They sit lazily in an attached place, waiting for passing nutrient particles. And only when they are already very close, they capture them through the pores and direct them, together with the flow of water, into the body.

Some species are able to move, despite the fact that they still have soles for attaching to the substrate. However, their speed is so low that for the whole day the individual is unlikely to move further than a meter.

Variety of sponges

For such primitive representatives, it is quite impressive - after all, there are about 8 thousand species of them! And according to some modern data, this figure is already approaching 9 thousand. External diversity is explained by the difference in body shape, skeleton types and body color of individuals (or colonies).

Grade Glass Sponges

Glass sponges are very interesting in their external variety. They are not as numerous as others, but have an unusual skeleton. These are one of the largest individuals that the Sponge type includes. The general characteristics of the representatives of this class can be expressed in several points.

1. The Latin name of the class is Hexactinellida.
2. The skeleton is formed from silicon compounds, so it is very durable.
3. Needle type body support, which is dominated by six-pointed structures.
4. Larvae of parenchymula or coeloblastula species.
5. Aquifer system of the leukon type.
6. More often colonial than solitary forms.
7. Sometimes up to 50 cm in height.

The most common representatives are such as:

• hyalonema siboldi;
• euplectella.

Class Ordinary, or Kremnerogovye, sponges

The Sponge type, a photo of whose representatives can be seen in this article, also includes the most numerous class in terms of the number of individuals - Kremnerogye, or Ordinary. They got their name for the features in the structure of the skeleton - it consists of silica and spongin. The hardness is quite gentle and easily destroyed. The shape of the spines of the skeleton is very diverse:

• asterisks;
• anchors;
• clubs;
• sharp needles and so on.

The most common freshwater representative is badyaga - a sponge used as an indicator of the purity of the reservoir. Outwardly unattractive, the color is brown-brown, sometimes dirty yellow. Used by man for various needs.

What other representatives are found among ordinary sponges?

1. Mixils.
2. Sea caravan.
3. Baikal sponge.
4. Marine brushes.
5. Giant chondrocladia and others.

Class Lime sponges

It includes representatives with a strong and beautiful calcareous skeleton. They live only in the seas and oceans. The coloration is pale or completely absent. The spines of the skeleton may have about three rays. The main representatives: ascons, sicons, leukandry.

Class Coral sponges

The fewest representatives that outwardly resemble coral branches. This happens due to the formation of a powerful calcareous skeleton of different colors and patterned structure.

Representatives: Nicholson's geratoporella, merlia. In total, only six species of such animals have been described. For a long time they were not distinguished from the coral reef system, so they were discovered relatively recently.

Human use of sponges

The economic importance of individuals belonging to the Sponge type is also important. Representatives are used for the following purposes:

1. They are participants in the food chain, as they themselves serve as food for many animals.
2. Used by people to make beautiful jewelry for the body and home interior.
3. They contain substances that allow them to be used for medical purposes (the bodyaga sponge has a resolving bruises and wound healing effect).
4. They are used to create hygienic sponges - natural natural products for the cosmetic industry.
5. Used for technical and other purposes.

Target: study the type of sponge as the first multicellular animals.

Tasks:

• consider the history of the appearance of sponges, their diversity and significance;
• draw students' attention to a little-studied group of animals;
• acquaint with the variety of sponges.

Equipment: tables on the classification of sponges, presentation "Sponges". Video fragment: "Regeneration of sponges".

Basic terms and concepts: multicellularity, cell differentiation, choanocytes, biofilters, regeneration, symbiosis. A systematic approach of developmental education was used.

DURING THE CLASSES

I. Organizational moment

Prepare students for the lesson.

II. Check of knowledge

Instead of dots, choose the appropriate words

Option 1.

1. Amoeba move by...
2. The food composition of ciliates - shoes mainly includes ...
3. In freshwater protozoa, metabolic products and excess water are excreted through ...
4. The reactions of protozoa to the action of stimuli are called ...
5. Euglena green ... react to light.
6. When adverse conditions occur, most of the protozoa go into a state of ...
7. Malaria is caused by getting into the blood ...

Option 2.

III. Teacher's story:

1. The history of the discovery of sponges

How much do we know about sponges? Yes, and most textbooks mention sponges somehow in passing, not in great detail and, it seems, not very willingly. What is the matter, why is it so unlucky for a whole type of animal, quite numerous and widespread?
Zoologists still do not know exactly where, in what place of the animal kingdom to place sponges. Either these are colonies of protozoa, that is, unicellular organisms, or primitive, but still multicellular animals. And sponges received the status of animal organisms only in 1825, and before that, together with some other sessile animals, they were classified as zoophytes - half animals, half plants.
Lime sponges are known from the Precambrian, glass sponges from the Devonian. Currently, most researchers, following Ivan Mechnikov, consider a hypothetical animal, phagocytella, as the ancestor of sponges. This is evidenced by the structure of the larvae of sponges, close to the most archaic animals from the sub-kingdom of phagocytella-like - Trichoplax.
However, Haeckel believed that sponges evolved from collared flagellates, in whose colonies anatomical and functional differences arose.
Sponges turned out to be a blind branch of evolution, no one descended from them.

2. Multicellular animals - sponges

- Guess what features sponges will have, unlike protozoa? Use paragraph 5 of the textbook, page 22. Write down the features in your notebook.

Teacher Additions:

1. The presence of choanocyte cells or collar cells with flagella, the beating of which creates a flow of water necessary to supply the body with food and oxygen and to remove carbon dioxide and metabolic products. Choanocytes of some complex sponges are able to “pump” a volume of water every minute equal to the volume of the sponge itself.

Cross section through the wall of the body of the sponge 1 - mouth, 2 - body cavity, 3 - canals

2. The body consists mainly of a gelatinous substance, inside which is a skeleton of protein, calcium carbonate or silica. Sponges belong to the cellular level of organization

3. Sponges already have cell differentiation, but there is still no or almost no coordination between cells necessary for organizing them into tissues.

4. Cells form a very loose, fragile complex, and if you rub a sponge through a silk sieve, then the bonds between them can be completely broken, although the cells themselves are not damaged. Then the cells can again combine into a complex similar to the original one.

5. Since sponges have a number of peculiar morphological features that are unique to this type, they are usually considered a side branch of the evolutionary trunk of multicellular animals. They evolved from the flagellates independently of other Metazoa and did not give rise to any other type.

6. Live sponges resemble a piece of raw liver; usually they have a dirty brown color, a mucous surface and an unpleasant odor.

7. Sponges - sessile organisms of various sizes from 1 cm to 2 m in height; they may form a flat growth, may be spherical, fan-shaped, or shaped like a bowl or vase.

Three types of sponge body structure: the dark stripe indicates the layer of choanocytes

8. Most sponges are hermaphrodites. Reproduction is sexual and asexual. Asexual reproduction occurs by budding, sometimes internal. The kidneys that form on the body, as a rule, do not separate from the mother's body, which leads to the appearance of colonies of the most bizarre shape.

9. In the sexual process, the sperm fertilizes the egg; a larva emerges from the egg, swimming in the water for some time, and then attaching itself to the bottom.

10. During the transformation of larvae into adult sessile forms in sponges, the germ layers are perverted: the outer flagellar cells migrate inward, and the cells of the inner layer move outward.

11. Sponges slowly and weakly respond to various stimuli, since there are no nerve cells in their body.

12. Oxygen is received and dissimilation products are released through the inner and outer surfaces of the body.

13. Digestion, like in protozoa, is intracellular.

14. Substances decomposed as a result of digestion partially diffuse into other cells and are assimilated there, and partially assimilated locally.

VI. Did you know?

History of the sponge

1. Toilet sponge in ancient Rome.

The ancient Romans did not know toilet paper, instead they used a simple device - an ordinary Mediterranean sponge on a stick.

A little about the sponge. It is a marine invertebrate animal whose skeleton is composed of silica, or silica and spongin, or one spongin. This skeleton has been used by people since ancient times.

toilet sponge

When dried, it is hard and brittle, but when wet, the sponge becomes soft and holds water well. In addition, due to the presence of antiseptic substances in the tissues, the sponge has bactericidal properties.
The term of "life" of a bath sponge in modern conditions with one owner is a couple of months. Sponges are still the subject of fishing, and in the markets of almost all Mediterranean countries you can see the collapse of sponges.

Judging by the testimony of contemporaries, sponges were in common use (it would be strange to imagine a Roman carrying a personal sponge to a public toilet). In the toilet room there was usually a vessel - a bucket or a basin, more often made of stone, in which there were several sponges. It is assumed that before and after use it should have been washed in a small channel with running water, which was usually arranged in the center of the toilet. An attendant looked after sponges in a respectable toilet.

Small private toilet in a bath complex in a Roman villa

1) Sponges provide an extremely convenient refuge for other organisms, and a number of small aquatic inhabitants use their pores as dwellings. Here it is necessary, first of all, to name the larva of the Neuroptera - Sisyra (Sisyra fuscata), which is 4.5 mm long, black-brown in color. In addition, sponges give shelter to some species of caddisflies (Hydropsyche ornatula), chironomids (Glyptotendipes), water mites (Unionicola crassipes), etc. Some types of ciliates and rotifers are permanent commensalists of sponges. Sometimes sponges live in close cohabitation with bryozoans, and these organisms even sprout each other.
2) Sponges are active biofilters, some of them are able to pass tens and hundreds of liters of water per day through their body.
3) It happens that sponges, growing in reservoirs, bring some, though small, harm.
4) It was observed that they clogged the openings of water pipes and thus disrupted the operation of water installations.
5) The bottoms of wooden ships can become covered with sponges, which hinders the speed of their movement.
6) Bodyaga is considered undesirable in fish ponds. With a strong development, it spoils the water, giving it an unpleasant smell and taste.

2. The bodyaga sponge is used in medicine.
A person who comes into contact with the sponge may develop severe itching and slight swelling of the fingers, possibly due to the histamine-like action of the sponge extract.
Finally, let's talk about the Japanese. They, as always, "ahead of the rest of the planet", have planted toilet sponges, and those who came up with such a good idea obviously did not lose. They earn well.

VII. Checking the assimilation of the material. Completing the crossword

1. Deep-sea forms of sponges up to 50 cm high. Skeletal needles contain silicon. Body color is white, grey, yellow or brown.
2. Regular, correct arrangement of body parts relative to the center in multicellular animals.
3. Sponges with a calcareous skeleton, living in the shallow waters of the seas and oceans. Coloration yellow-gray.
4. The way of life of the animal when it is attached motionless to the substrate (stone bottom or large object).
5. A sponge used by humans in medicine to treat rheumatism, bruises, bruises.
6. Sponges with a silicon skeleton. The coloring is varied. They can reach sizes up to 1 meter.
7. Single-celled algae, found in the cytoplasm of sponges, providing it with oxygen.
8. Cells that perform an individual function.
9. Skeletal formations present in the gelatinous substance of the body of sponges.

Internet resources:

Original news:

Literature:

1. N. Green, W. Stout, D. Taylor. Biology, v.1. – M.: Mir, 1996.
2. V.A. Dogel. Zoology of invertebrates. - L .: Higher School, 1983.
3. V.A. Dogel. Course of comparative anatomy of invertebrates. - L .: Leningrad University, 1967.
4. V. M. Koltun. Life of animals, vol. 1, M., 1968
5. A.A. Yakhontov. Zoology for teachers publishing house "Prosveshchenie". Moscow 1968
6. Fundamentals of paleontology. Sponges, archaeocyates, coelenterates, worms, M., 1962;

This living organism is unique in its age. The Antarctic sponge is a long-liver of centenarians. It is possible that sponges grow very slowly due to low temperatures. They have a slow metabolism.

Scientists have found that the age of the most "old" Antarctic sponge is more than one and a half thousand years. Now for a moment imagine how many interesting things this sponge has seen in its lifetime. It is these living creatures that hold the record for longevity in the animal world.

Sponges for giants and dwarfs. slide 11

Among the primitive marine animals - sponges - the highest is the Cup of Neptune.
The “growth” of this sedentary creature that really looks like a goblet can reach 120 centimeters. But the heaviest sponge was found in the Bahamas. She was almost two meters in girth and weighed 41 kilograms. True, after it was dried, the weight of the sponge became much less - only 5 kg 440 g. Well, even Thumbelina, perhaps, could not wash with the smallest sponge: its diameter is only 3 mm.

Sponge goblet of Neptune Svarchevsky papyrus 1-4 mm.

The body is cylindrical in shape up to 30 cm long, consists of hexagonal needles, which include silica. Deep-sea view of the tropical zone of the Pacific and Indian oceans.

In Japan, the euplexella is associated with the wedding ceremony. When marrying, young people receive a beautiful translucent basket with a couple of dried shrimp inside as a gift. The Japanese have long noticed that two shrimp live in each such sponge - a male and a female. They climb there even at the larval stage and, growing up, can no longer leave it. Therefore, the gift has a symbolic meaning for the newlyweds - it serves as the personification of constant love, fidelity and long marital happiness. Translated from Japanese, the sponge is called “together live, grow old and die.”

Basket of Venus

Sponges are studied by few zoologists. This is explained simply - they do not have much practical significance, they are outwardly unattractive, not like, for example, birds, tigers or starfish. At the same time, the name of one of the largest Russian specialists in marine sponges is known to everyone. Now few people remember that the great Russian traveler, ethnographer and anthropologist Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklukho-Maclay was a zoologist by training. A student and assistant of the great Ernst Haeckel, he studied the sponges of our seas a lot. At the end of many scientific names of sponges living in the northern seas, we meet the name of the author of the description of the species - Miclucho-Maclay.

Kalymnos. Sponge divers.

Kalymnos is a fairly small island in the Aegean Sea, part of a group of over 50 Dodecanese Islands in southern Greece. Although sponge diving has been a source of income for many Greek islands in recent centuries, Kalymnos is known as the center of the Greek sponge industry. The waters around the Greek islands are beneficial for their growth, due to the high water temperature. The best quality sponges were in the south of the Mediterranean. It is not known exactly when the sponge came into use. In ancient writings (Plato, Homer) a sponge is mentioned as an object for washing. On Kalymnos also sponge diving has roots since ancient times. This is one of the oldest professions on the island. Sponge diving brought social and economic development to the island. In the past, they dived using the "skin diving" method. The team went to sea in a small boat. To search for sponges at the bottom, a cylindrical object with a glass bottom was used. As soon as the sponge was found, the diver took it out from the bottom. He usually carried a 15 kg flat stone, known as "Scandalopetra", to quickly reach the bottom. The cut sponge was collected in special nets. The depth and time of the dive depended on the size of the lungs of the diver. Although it was quite difficult to mine in this way, a lot of sponges were mined and sold in this way. Many merchants on Kalymnos became very rich. From 1865 there was a boom in the sponge trade. The reason for this was the introduction of the standard diving suit or the Skafandro as the Greeks called it. A trader from Symi Island brought equipment, probably Sibe Gorman. The benefits were there. Now, divers could stay as long as they wanted and at great depths. The best sponges were found at a depth of about 70 meters. The diver could now walk along the bottom and look for them.

In 1868 the Sponge Diving Fleet was:

300 ships with divers (from 6 to 15 divers on each ship) 70 ships that mined sponges with harpoons.
With the advent of the suit, the trade has grown tremendously. Ships from Kalymnos left for the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. They went as far as Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria. They were at sea for 6 months.
Profit from the extraction and sale of sponges was high. For divers, the working conditions in the suit were. However, there was a big danger when diving - decompression sickness. Soon after the introduction of the suit, the first diving accidents occurred. The symptoms, severe pain, paralysis and death were ultimately terrifying for the divers and other crew as they had no idea what was causing it all!
Daily dives of 70 meters or more and ascents without safety stops had a devastating effect: in the first year of using the suit, about half of the divers were paralyzed or died from decompression sickness. Between 1886 and 1910 about 10,000 divers died and 20,000 were disabled.
This had a great impact on all the inhabitants of Kalymnos. In each family there were fathers, children, brothers and other relatives who were paralyzed or did not return from the season. By the end of the 19th century, this caused great unrest in Kalymnos, especially among women. At that time the island was occupied by the Turks. Women asked the Turkish Sultan to ban the space suit, which he did in 1882. Profits have fallen, divers have returned to the old way of mining (skin diving). Approximately 4 years later, the spacesuit began to be used again and more accidents occurred.

Modern sponge mining

The most widely used from ancient times to the present day are toilet sponges, the skeleton of which is devoid of mineral needles. Toilet sponges are fished in temperate, subtropical and partly tropical seas at shallow depths.
The diver removes the sponge from a rock or other substrate and places it in a net, which is then lifted up with a rope into the boat. Sometimes a dredge or an iron cat is used, but with this method of extraction, many sponges are damaged.

VIII. Advanced homework: repeat § 5, find interesting facts like "Intestinal cavities".

(Calcarea, or Calcispongiae), class of sponges. The skeleton is formed by three-, four-beam and uniaxial needles of calcium carbonate. The body is often barrel-shaped or tube-shaped. Unity, sponges having all 3 types of channel system. Small (up to 7 cm) solitary or colonial organisms. St. 100 species, in the seas of temperate latitudes, Ch. arr. in shallow water; in the USSR, approx. 20 kinds. The oldest finds of I. g., which have a soldered skeleton (faretron g.), belong to Perm, the greatest flowering in the Cretaceous.

Watch value Lime Sponges in other dictionaries

Sponges Mn.- 1. A family of lower invertebrate animals living in the seas.
Explanatory Dictionary of Efremova

Sponges- (Porifera), a phylum of aquatic invertebrates. are primitive multicellular animals attached to underwater rocks and leading a motionless lifestyle. Their extremely........
Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

Sponges- a type of predominantly marine invertebrates. They have skeletal formations in the form of limestone, silica needles (spicules) or spongin protein fibers. Budding, they form ........

Lime Fertilizers- natural calcareous rocks - limestone (lime flour), dolomite (dolomite flour), chalk, tuff, products of their processing (lime), industrial waste (defecation, shale ........
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Silicon Horn Sponges- detachment of ordinary sponges. The skeleton consists of flint needles or spongin protein fibers. They form colonies up to 0.5 m high. Marine and freshwater (including bodyagi) forms. OK.........
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Ordinary Sponges- a class of invertebrates such as sponges. 2 orders: four-beam and silicon-horn sponges.
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Drilling Sponges- (cliones) - a family of four-beam sponges. They make holes (diameter approx. 1 mm) in a lime substrate. OK. 20 species, shallow water in warm and temperate seas; including in Japanese,........
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Glass Sponges- the same as six-ray sponges.
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Toilet Sponges- large (usually up to 20-50 cm) sponges from the flint-horn order. The skeleton consists of a dense porous network of elastic fibers. Fishing object in the Mediterranean, Red, Caribbean ........
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Quadruple Sponges- detachment of marine invertebrates of the class ordinary sponges. In most, the skeleton is formed by 4-beamed flint needles. Colonial, rarely solitary forms. St. 500 species;........
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Six Sponges- (glass sponges) - a class of marine invertebrates such as sponges. The skeleton consists of 6-beam flint needles. OK. 500 species, at a depth of 100 m and more to the ultraabyssal; in Russia there are 34 species.
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Class Lime Sponges (calcisponga)- Exclusively sea sponges, usually living at shallow depths. They are rather delicate organisms, solitary or colonial, rarely exceeding 7 cm in height.........
Biological Encyclopedia

Class Ordinary Sponges (demosponga) Most of the living sponges today belong to this class. It is these sponges that amaze the observer with a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Like........
Biological Encyclopedia

Grade Glass Sponges (hyalospongia)- Glass sponges - a kind of sea, mostly deep-sea, sponges, reaching 50 cm in height or more. Their body is most often goblet-shaped, bag-shaped ........
Biological Encyclopedia