Sponge Canal Systems

Tiny openings on the surface of sponges that allow water to enter the body.

Large openings on sponges where water exits after passing through the internal canals.

A unique system of canals and chambers in sponges that facilitates water flow, bringing in food and oxygen and removing waste.

Hard, skeletal structures made of calcium carbonate or silica that provide support to sponge bodies.

Sponges lack true tissues and organs, including the three germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm) present in more complex animals.

Clusters of cells surrounded by a protective layer, involved in asexual reproduction in sponges. They can develop into new sponges under favorable conditions.

Totipotent stem cells found in sponge embryos. They have the potential to develop into any cell type and even form a whole new organism.

The stage in sponge embryonic development where the zygote does not form a gastrula but instead remains a hollow ball of cells.

Adult sponge cells that can differentiate into a few cell types, including sclerocytes and germ cells, but lack the totipotency of archeocytes.

A free-swimming larva produced during sponge sexual reproduction. It disperses in the water column before settling and undergoing metamorphosis.

The process of fertilization in sponges, followed by the release of a planktonic larva, and eventually its settlement and metamorphosis into an adult sponge.