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Euplectella Plumosum
''Euplectella'' is a genus of glass sponges which includes the well-known Venus' Flower Basket. Glass sponges have a skeleton made up of silica spicules that can form geometric patterns. These animals are most commonly found on muddy sea bottoms in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans. They are sessile organisms and do not move once attached to a rock. They can be found at depths between 100 m and 1000 m but are most commonly found at depths greater than 500 m. Anatomy The body shape of ''Euplectella'' is cylindrical and vase-like with a hole located at the top of the cylinder structure. This tubular shape is referred to as asconoid. The inner structure of this animal is covered by a layer of choanocytes. Euplectella is a member of the class Sclerospongiae or glass sponges. These sponges are anchored to the seafloor by thousands of spicules. Spicules are long glassy fibers that are covered with recurved barbs. Spicules provide high beam strength support for anchoring and streng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venus' Flower Basket
The Venus' flower basket (''Euplectella aspergillum'') is a glass sponge in the phylum Porifera. It is a marine sponge found in the deep waters of the Pacific ocean, usually at depths below 500 meters. Like other sponges, they feed by filtering sea water to capture plankton and marine snow. Similar to other glass sponges, they build their skeletons out of silica, which forms a unique lattice structure of spicules. The sponges are usually between 10 cm and 30 cm tall, and their bodies act as refuge for their mutualist shrimp partners. This body structure is of great interest in materials science as the optical and mechanical properties are in some ways superior to man-made materials. Little is known regarding their reproduction habits, however fluid dynamics of their body structure likely influence reproduction and it is hypothesized that they may be hermaphroditic. Habitat Venus' flower baskets are found in the western Pacific Ocean nearby the Philippine Islands. Other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
