Sponges and Cnidarians

Biology II: Chapter 26

 The Animal Kingdom
• Multicellular

• Eukaryotic

• Heterotrophs

• Cells lack cell walls

• 95% are invertebrates

 What Animals Do to Survive
• Feeding • Response

• Respiration • Movement

• Circulation • Reproduction

• Excretion
 Trends in Animal Evolution
• Cell specialization and levels of organization

• Early development

• Body symmetry

• Cephalization

• Body cavity formation

SPONGES
 Sponges
• Phylum Porifera

• Have tiny openings, or pores, all

over their bodies

• Sessile: they live their entire life

attached to a single spot

• They are animals! Why…?

 Sponges are Animals!!!
• Multicellular

• Heterotrophic

• No cell walls

• Contain a few
specialized cells
 Form and Function in Sponges
• Have nothing resembling a
mouth or gut

• Have no tissues or organ

systems

• Simple functions are carried

out by a few specialized cells
 Asymmetrical
• Have no front or back ends,
no left and right sides

• A large, cylindrical water

pump

• The body forms a wall

around a large central cavity
through which water flows
continually
 Choanocytes

• Specialized cells that

use flagella to move a
steady current of water
through the sponge

• Filters several thousand

liters/day
 Osculum

• A large hole at the top of

the sponge, through which
water exits

• The movement of water

provides a simple
mechanism for feeding,
respiration, circulation and
excretion
 Simple Skeleton
• Spicule: a spike-shaped
structure made of
chalk-like calcium
carbonate or glasslike
silica in hard sponges

• Archaeocytes:
specialized cells that
make spicules
 Feeding
• Filter feeders

• Sift microscopic
food from the water

• Particles are engulfed by

choanocytes that line the body cavity
Respiration, Circulation, & Excretion
• Rely on the movement of water through their bodies
to carry out body functions

• As water moves through the cavity:

• Oxygen dissolved in the water diffuses into the

surrounding cells

• Carbon dioxide and other wastes, diffuse into the

water and are carried away
 Response
• No nervous system

• Many sponges protect

themselves by producing
toxins that make them
unpalatable or poisonous
to potential predators
 Reproduction

• Sexually or asexually

• A single spore forms

both eggs and sperm;
usually at different
times
 Sexual Reproduction
• Internal fertilization:
Eggs are fertilized inside
the sponge’s body

• Sperm are released from

one sponge and carried
by currents to the pores
of another sponge
 Asexual Reproduction

• Budding

• Gemmules: groups of
archaeocytes surrounded
by spicules
 Ecology of Sponges
• Ideal habitats for marine animals such as snails,
sea stars, sea cucumbers, and shrimp

• Mutually beneficial relationships with bacteria,

algae and plant-like protists

– Many are green due to these organisms living in

their tissues
 Ecology of Sponges
• Attached to the seafloor and may receive
little sunlight

• Some have spicules that look like cross-

shaped antennae

• Like a lens or magnifying glass, they focus

and direct incoming sunlight
CNIDARIANS
 Cnidarians
• Phylum Cnidaria

• Hydras, jellies,
sea anemones, and corals

• Soft-bodied

• Carnivorous

• Stinging tentacles arranged in circles around their mouths

• Simplest animals to have body symmetry and specialized cells

 Cnidocytes

• Stinging cells that

are located on their
tentacles

• Used for defense

and to capture prey
 Nematocyst
• A poison-filled, stinging
structure that contains a
tightly coiled dart

• Found within cnidocytes

Form and Function in Cnidarians
• Only a few cells thick

• Simple body systems

• Most of their responses to the environment

are carried out by specialized cells and
tissues
 Radially Symmetrical
• Central mouth
surrounded by
numerous tentacles
that extend outward
from the body

• Life cycles includes

a polyp and a
medusa stage
 Body Plan
• Polyp: cylindrical
body with arm-like
tentacles; mouth
points upward

• Medusa: motile, bell-

shaped body; mouth
on the bottom
 Feeding
• Polyps and medusas have a body wall that
surrounds an internal space: the
gastrovascular cavity

• Gastrovascular cavity: a digestive chamber

with one opening

– Food enters and wastes leave the body

Respiration, Circulation, & Excretion
• Following digestion, nutrients are usually
transported throughout the body by
diffusion

• Respire and
eliminate wastes
by diffusion
through body walls
 Response
• Specialized sensory cells are used to gather
information from the environment

• Nerve net: loosely organized network of nerve cells

that together allow cnidarians to detect stimuli

– Distributed uniformly throughout the body in most species

– In some species it is concentrated around the mouth or in

rings around the body
 Response
• Statocysts: groups of
sensory cells that help
determine the direction
of gravity

• Ocelli: eyespots made

of cells that detect light
 Movement
• Hydrostatic skeleton: a layer of circular
muscles and a layer of longitudinal muscles
that enable cnidarians to move
Reproduction: Sexually and Asexually
• Polyps can reproduce asexually by budding

• External sexual reproduction

– The sexes are separate-each individual is either

male or female

– Both egg and sperm are released into the water

 Groups of Cnidarians
• Jellies (formerly jellyfishes)

• Hydras and their relatives

• Sea anemones

• Corals
 Ecology of Corals
• The worldwide distribution is determined by:

– Temperature

– Water depth

– Light intensity

• Many suffer from human activity

• Coral bleaching has become common
• Global warming may add to the problem