Sponges have been around for a very long time, with certain species having a fossil record that dates back approximately 600 million years to the earliest (Precambrian) period of Earth’s history. Scientists believe that their varied colorations may protect them from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. Not bad for a "primitive" animal.Sponges are found in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes and are often mistaken for plants. Included in the growing roster of potentially beneficial sponge molecules are ones that fight inflammation and cell division. "Organisms that appear to defend themselves chemically are of great interest to us," notes John Faulkner, professor of marine chemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, in La Jolla, California. Now, sponges and their toxins are finding a niche in medical research. But don't think they do all this sitting still: despite appearances, sponges can actually move! There, they feed on plankton and other microscopic fare pulled in through tiny pores. With a shield of toxins and sharp, microscopic spikes, called spicules, which help hold them together, sponges expertly deter enemies and beat out more complex creatures for solid space in the crowded underwater world. "Most sponges," Genthe notes, "are barely recognizable as animals and for years were considered to be plants." Their passive and helpless appearance is, however, deceiving. Follow writer Henry Genthe from the bottom of the Pacific to Caribbean coral reefs as he discovers these deceptively simple creatures at home and at the cutting edge of medical research.Īpproximately 10,000 species of sponges live in fresh and salt water, their forms ranging from delicate foot-high vases to eight-foot-tall giants. The simplest multicellular beasts on earth, sponges are collections of loosely organized single cells with no true organs or tissues.
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