This sponge is a characteristic feature of the intertidal zone, especially where there is wave action and good water circulation, providing abundant water flow through the body and good opportunities for both respiratory oxygen and the bacteria, algae, and detritus that make up its diet. This species has glassy spicules that are long, rather thick, and tapered at both ends but not arranged in any particular pattern. The spicules are often sharply pointed and can penetrate skin easily, so caution is advised when handling sponges. Many sponges have a hard internal skeleton of spicules, varying from large to small and being of either calcareous (calcium carbonate) or siliceous (silicon dioxide, as in glass) composition. ![]() It is appropriate to use the word ‘animal’ from time to time, as a sponge looks like anything but. The water enters through much smaller pores, each called an ostium, and circulates throughout the animal. Each of them is an osculum, and water that is circulated through the body is expelled through these holes. The abundant holes are what make this organism obviously a sponge. Just as in lichens and many corals, the algae (zoochlorellae) living on the surface provide carbohydrate nutrients to the sponge, while the sponge furnishes a substrate in which the algae are sheltered and somewhat protected from the elements. It is usually a dirty yellow to dull orange color and may have a greenish tinge from symbiotic algae on its surface. Individual sponges can be several feet in diameter and project up from the substrate as much as inch or more. ![]() The surface around the many holes is smooth and glassy, although when handled, it crumbles like a slice of dried bread, thus the name. \)).KINGDOM Animalia - PHYLUM Porifera - CLASS Demospongiae - ORDER Halichondrida -FAMILY Halichondriidae
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