Sponges, in biological and ecological research topics, are basal metazoans (phylum Porifera) characterized by a porous body plan, an aquiferous canal system, and choanocyte-lined chambers that drive water flow for filter feeding, gas exchange, and waste removal. They possess a skeleton of spicules (siliceous or calcareous) and/or spongin fibers and exhibit high cellular plasticity with loosely organized tissues lacking true organs. Sponges play key roles in benthic ecosystems as major filter feeders, mediating biogeochemical cycles (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, silicon) and hosting diverse microbial symbionts that contribute to nutrient transformations, chemical defense, and the production of bioactive secondary metabolites.
Many corals and sponges form skeletons that support and shape their bodies. Whereas biomineralization—the formation of these skeletons—has been intensively studied in corals, the main ecosystem engineers of today's hyperdiverse ...
Evolution
Sep 9, 2025
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Some dolphins in Australia have a special technique to flush fish from the seafloor. They hunt with a sponge on their beak, like a clown nose.
Plants & Animals
Jul 16, 2025
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More than 514 million years ago, long before dinosaurs roamed Earth, sponge-like creatures called archaeocyathids were already busy building some of the planet's earliest reefs—just north of Death Valley in present-day Nevada.
Evolution
Jun 12, 2025
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The Venus flower basket sponge, with its delicate glass-like lattice outer skeleton, has long intrigued researchers seeking to explain how this fragile-seeming creature's body can withstand the harsh conditions of the deep ...
General Physics
May 17, 2024
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A new technique for electrospinning sponges has allowed scientists from the University of Surrey to directly produce 3D scaffolds—on which skin grafts could be grown from the patient's own skin.
Bio & Medicine
Feb 23, 2024
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