What is the function of Porocyte?

Porocytes control the amount of water that enters pores into the spongocoel, while choanocytes, which are flagellated cells, aid the movement of water through the sponge, thereby helping the sponge to trap and ingest food particles.

What is the function of a sponges Matrix?

In most sponges, an internal gelatinous matrix called mesohyl functions as an endoskeleton, and it is the only skeleton in soft sponges that encrust such hard surfaces as rocks. More commonly, the mesohyl is stiffened by mineral spicules, by spongin fibers, or both.

What functions do a sponges spicules serve?

Spicules not only support cells of sponges, they also help larvae to stay buoyant while in the plankton or reach the bottom at settlement, enhance reproduction success, or catch prey.

What is the main function of sponge?

Sponges are unusual animals in that they lack definite organs to carry out their various functions. The most important structure is the system of canals and chambers, called a water-current system, through which water circulates to bring food and oxygen to the sponge.

What is Ostia in sponges?

Ostia are tiny pores present all over the body of sponges. its function is to let the water, along with desire nutrient flows interior of the sponges. Osculum is a excretory structure opening to the outside through which current of water exist after passing through the spongocoel.

What are sponges found?

Many sponges have internal skeletons of spongin and/or spicules of calcium carbonate or silica. Primarily, their body consists of a thin sheet of cells over a frame (skeleton). As their name suggests, Poriferans are characterized by the presence of minute pores called ostia on their body.

What is the meaning of spongocoel?

: the internal cavity of a sponge discharging by way of the osculum.

What is the importance of sponges in an ecosystem?

Sponges are critical components of the ecosystems of coral reefs, where they provide shelter for a variety of organisms including shrimp, crabs, and algae. They are also a source of food for many sponge-eating fish species. Many sponge species form large colonies or aggregates of individual organisms.

What is the function of spongin and spicules in a sponge?

They provide structural support and deter predators. Large spiculesthat are visible to the naked eye are referred to as megascleres, while smaller, microscopic ones are termed microscleres.

Why is movement of water through a sponge important for feeding?

They rely on keeping up a constant water flow through their bodies to obtain food and oxygen and to remove wastes. Sponges have a unique feeding system among animals. Cells in the sponge walls filter food from the water as the water is pumped through the body and the osculum (“little mouth”).

Which of the following cells line the spongocoel and the canals of sponges?

Pinacocytes line the spongocoel and incurrent canals.

What is Ostia and its function?

Where is the spongocoel located in a sponge?

Spongocoel: At the free end of a branch, a fairly large aperture known as osculum is present. Osculum leads internally into a canal, the spongocoel, which runs along the middle of the branch and receives a large number of ex-current canals of the branch.

Which is part of the spongocoel has a dual function?

(lining the spongocoel), it has a dual function. The incurrent pore/ostium is also serves as a prosopyle. The actual opening is formed by 1 cell, the porocyte. Syconoid Sponges

What is the structure and function of a sponge?

Structure and Function in Sponges Sponges are diploblasts meaning that they develop from two basic germ layers: an ectoderm, or outer layer, and an endoderm, or inner layer. Most sponges are asymmetric. Asymmetry means that if the animal is divided into two halves along any axis, the halves will not be equal or identical.

How does water enter and exit the spongocoel?

Water enters into the spongocoel through numerous pores, or ostia, that create openings in the body wall. Water entering the spongocoel is expelled via a large common opening called the osculum.