Yellow Sponge Scenic
by Jean Noren
Title
Yellow Sponge Scenic
Artist
Jean Noren
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
A distant shot of an interestingly formed sponge. I like the little extensions growing out of the sides and top.
The yellow tube sponge is very accurately named. It consists of tubes that are open at the top and closed at the base and provide habitat for many other species of invertebrates (crabs and shrimps) and reef fishes . Sponges, are attached to the reef surface and are unable to move. If pieces of an individual are broken off by predators or during a storm, they can reattach and begin growing a new sponge.
Sponges have existed for at least 500 million years. However, because this species lives mostly on coral reefs, changes to that fragile system caused by irresponsible human behavior may threaten the yellow tube sponge.
Each of a sponge’s individual cells can transform to complete the job of any other cell in the body. This lack of specialization means that if a sponge is ground up in a blender it can reform itself as the cells swim back together and take on the form and job needed for recovery.
Yellow tube sponges feed by filtering water through the body wall, trapping food particles and excreting waste materials into the inner bowl or tube. The, now filtered, wastewater exits the sponge through the large opening at the top ( osculum). They also obtain oxygen from the water during this process.
The primary predator of the yellow tube sponge is the hawksbill turtle, and its not unusual to see turtle sized bit marks on the top and sides of a sponge.
The yellow tube sponge does not have silica skeleton, so has been collected for use as a bath sponge in the past. Fortunately, synthetic sponges have eliminated the market for these sponges, and it is only rarely collected today.
Uploaded
May 25th, 2019
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Viewed 651 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/19/2024 at 7:09 AM
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