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Hexactinellid
Hexactinellid sponges are sponges with a skeleton made of four- and/or six-pointed siliceous spicules, often referred to as glass sponges. They are usually classified along with other sponges in the phylum Porifera, but some researchers consider them sufficiently distinct to deserve their own phylum, Symplasma. Some experts believe glass sponges are thlongest-lived animals on earth these scientists tentatively estimate a maximum age of up to 15,000 years. Biology Glass sponges are relatively uncommon and are mostly found at depths from below the sea level. Although the species '' Oopsacas minuta'' has been found in shallow water, others have been found much deeper. They are found in all oceans of the world, although they are particularly common in Antarctic and Northern Pacific waters. They are more-or-less cup-shaped animals, ranging from in height, with sturdy lattice-like internal skeletons made up of fused spicules of silica. The body is relatively symmetrical, with a large ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sponge Reef
Sponge reefs are reefs formed by Hexactinellid sponges, which have a skeleton made of silica, and are often referred to as ''glass sponges''. Such reefs are now very rare, and found only in waters off the coast of British Columbia, Washington and southern Alaska. Recently sponge reefs were identified within the strait of Georgia and Howe sound close to Vancouver. Although common in the late Jurassic period, reef-building sponges were believed to have gone extinct during or shortly after the Cretaceous period, until the existing reefs were discovered Queen Charlotte sound in 1987–1988 – hence these sometimes being dubbed living fossils. The reefs serve an important ecological function as habitat, breeding and nursery areas for fish and invertebrates but are currently threatened by the fishery, offshore oil and gas industries. Attempts are being made to protect these unique ecosystems through fishery closures and potentially the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spicule (sponge)
Spicules are structural elements found in most sponges. The meshing of many spicules serves as the sponge's skeleton and thus it provides structural support and potentially defense against predators. Sponge spicules are made of calcium carbonate or silica. Large spicules visible to the naked eye are referred to as megascleres, while smaller, microscopic ones are termed microscleres. The composition, size, and shape of spicules are major characters in sponge systematics and taxonomy. Overview Sponges are a species-rich clade of the earliest-diverging (most basal) animals. They are distributed globally, with diverse ecologies and functions, and a record spanning at least the entire Phanerozoic. Most sponges produce skeletons formed by spicules, structural elements that develop in a wide variety of sizes and three dimensional shapes. Among the four sub-clades of Porifera, three ( Demospongiae, Hexactinellida, and Homoscleromorpha) produce skeletons of amorphous silica a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porifera
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them, consisting of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. Sponges have unspecialized cells that can transform into other types and that often migrate between the main cell layers and the mesohyl in the process. Sponges do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems. Instead, most rely on maintaining a constant water flow through their bodies to obtain food and oxygen and to remove wastes. Sponges were first to branch off the evolutionary tree from the last common ancestor of all animals, making them the sister group of all other animals. Etymology The term ''sponge'' derives from the Ancient Greek word ( 'sponge'). Overview Sponges are similar to other animals in that they are multicellula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sponge
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them, consisting of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. Sponges have unspecialized cells that can transform into other types and that often migrate between the main cell layers and the mesohyl in the process. Sponges do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems. Instead, most rely on maintaining a constant water flow through their bodies to obtain food and oxygen and to remove wastes. Sponges were first to branch off the evolutionary tree from the last common ancestor of all animals, making them the sister group of all other animals. Etymology The term ''sponge'' derives from the Ancient Greek word ( 'sponge'). Overview Sponges are similar to other animals in that they are multicell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Staurocalyptus
''Staurocalyptus'' is a genus of sponge. It was circumscribed in 1897 by Isao Ijima. Taxonomy Ijima circumscribed ''Staurocalyptus'' as a genus in the family Rossellidae. His initial taxonomy included three newly described species and two transferred from ''Rhabdocalyptus''. Ijimi did not designate a type species; in 1967 V. M. Koltun designated ''Rhabdocalyptus dowlingi'' as the type species. A 2002 revision of Rossellidae by K. R. Tabachnick demoted ''Staurocalyptus'' to be a subgenus of ''Acanthascus'' and designated a new type species: ''Staurocalyptus glaber'' . However, , WoRMS still classifies ''Staurocalyptus'' as a genus and follows Koltun's type species designation, not that of Tabachnick. Distribution Its species are found in the Pacific Ocean, at a depth of . Species , WoRMS recognizes the following seventeen species: * ''Staurocalyptus affinis * ''Staurocalyptus celebesianus * ''Staurocalyptus dowlingi'' * ''Staurocalyptus entacanthus'' * ''Staurocalypt ... [...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] |
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] |
Syncitial Tissue
A syncytium (; plural syncytia; from Greek: σύν ''syn'' "together" and κύτος ''kytos'' "box, i.e. cell") or symplasm is a multinucleate cell which can result from multiple cell fusions of uninuclear cells (i.e., cells with a single nucleus), in contrast to a coenocyte, which can result from multiple nuclear divisions without accompanying cytokinesis. The muscle cell that makes up animal skeletal muscle is a classic example of a syncytium cell. The term may also refer to cells interconnected by specialized membranes with gap junctions, as seen in the heart muscle cells and certain smooth muscle cells, which are synchronized electrically in an action potential. The field of embryogenesis uses the word ''syncytium'' to refer to the coenocytic blastoderm embryos of invertebrates, such as ''Drosophila melanogaster''. Physiological examples Protists In protists, syncytia can be found in some rhizarians (e.g., chlorarachniophytes, plasmodiophorids, haplosporidians) and acellular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sponge Reef Project
The Sponge Reef Project is a binational scientific project between Germany and Canada to study the sponge reefs off British Columbia, Canada, reefs formed by sponges of the Hexactinellid family. The project was started in 1999, following the discovery of the reefs in 1991; earlier, this reef type was thought to have existed mainly in the Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ... period. External linksThe Sponge Reef Project [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeleton
A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body, and the hydroskeleton, a flexible internal skeleton supported by fluid pressure. Vertebrates are animals with a vertebral column, and their skeletons are typically composed of bone and cartilage. Invertebrates are animals that lack a vertebral column. The skeletons of invertebrates vary, including hard exoskeleton shells, plated endoskeletons, or spicules. Cartilage is a rigid connective tissue that is found in the skeletal systems of vertebrates and invertebrates. Etymology The term ''skeleton'' comes . ''Sceleton'' is an archaic form of the word. Classification Skeletons can be defined by several attributes. Solid skeletons consist of hard substances, such as bone, cartilage, or cuticle. These can be further divided by locat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below. English CBC Radio operates three English language networks. *CBC Radio One - Primarily news and information, Radio One broadcasts to most communities across Canada. Until 1997, it was known as "CBC Radio". * CBC Music - Broadcasts an adult music format with a variety of genres, with the classical genre generally restricted to midday hours. From 2007 to 2018, it was known as "CBC Radio 2". * CBC Radio 3 - Broadcasts a youth-oriented indie rock format on Internet radio and Sirius XM Radio. Some content from Radio 3 was also broadcast as weekend programming on Radio Two until March 2007. The inconsistency of branding between the word "One" and the numerals "2" and "3" was a deliberate design choice on CBC's part and is not an error, tho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hecate Strait
, image = HecateStrait(PittIsland).JPG , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = Hecate Strait and Pitt Island , image_bathymetry = Loc-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = Hecate Strait as delineated by BCGNIS, along with Queen Charlotte Sound and Dixon Entrance. Red dots indicate capes and points, gray text indicates island names. , location = British Columbia, Canada , group = , coordinates = , type = , etymology = , part_of = , inflow = , rivers = , outflow = , oceans = Pacific Ocean , catchment = , basin_countries = , agency = , designation = , length = , width = , area = , depth = , max-depth = , volume = , residence_time = , sali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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