PHYLUM PORIFERA

The sponges are multicellular animals, though of simple and loose organization, either with spicules of silica or calcium carbonate imbedded in their bodies for support or with fibrous skeletons made of the horny substance spongin, as in the common commercial sponge. Sponges are all benthic and nearly all marine, only one family occurring in fresh water. In the sea they are to be found in all parts and at all depths, the siliceous forms living largely in the deep sea. Sponges grow attached to the substratum and obtain their food by propelling water through tiny pores in the body wall and filtering out the microorganisms and detritus that may be present. There are about 2500 species, mostly marine.