article IDEAS FOR EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATION OF AQUATIC ANIMALS IN SCHOOL AQUARIUM
XXV (BREEDING OF FRESHWATER SPONGES (PORIFERA))
Lubomír Hanel
information
year: 2025
issue: 4
fulltext: PDF
online publishing date: 23/4/2026
DOI: 10.14712/25337556.2025.4.3
ISSN (Online): 2533-7556
Toto dílo podléhá licenci Creative Commons Uveďte původ 4.0 Mezinárodní License.
abstract
Sponges are mostly marine (over 9,000 species) or freshwater (about 100 species) invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera. Sponges are multicellular organisms consisting of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells, and usually have tube-like bodies full of pores and channels that allow water to circulate through them. They do not have complex nervous, digestive or circulatory systems. Unlike other animals, they lack true tissues and organs. Many sponges have internal skeletons of spicules (skeletal-like fragments of calcium carbonate or silicon dioxide), and/or spongin (a modified type of collagen protein). Some sponges host photosynthesizing microorganisms such as endosymbionts, and these alliances often produce more food and oxygen than they consume. They are mostly filter feeders, but a few species of sponges that live in food-poor marine environments have evolved as carnivores that prey mainly on small crustaceans. All adult sponges are sessile, while their larval stage of life is motile. Most sponges reproduce sexually, but they can also reproduce asexually. When environmental conditions become less hospitable to the sponges, for example, as temperatures drop, many freshwater species, and a few of the marine ones, produce gemmules. Sponges and their microscopic endosymbionts are now being researched as possible sources of medicines for treating a wide range of diseases. This paper provides ideas for the observation of freshwater sponges in school aquaria.
keywords
school aquarium; freshwater sponges; Porifera, observation
fulltext (PDF )
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