''Agelas flabelliformis'', also known as the elephant ear sponge, is a species of
demosponge
Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). They are sponges with a soft body that covers a har ...
. It takes the form of a large leathery slender flap and is found in the Caribbean area at depths down to .
Description
The elephant ear sponge consists of a large thin flap of spongy material attached edgewise to the
substrate by a short peduncle or stem about in diameter. It is usually less than thick but may reach a height and width of a metre (yard) or so. There is often a central lobe with two side flaps. The consistency is firm and leathery but also fragile. On one side it has many large, circular
osculi (holes) scattered across the surface. On the other side are small pores and a few, widely dispersed, irregular osculi and some groups of smaller ones. Each vent is surrounded by a collar or rim of thickened skin. The tissue forming the sponge is strengthened by the incorporation of a single type of mineralised
spicule
Spicules are any of various small needle-like anatomical structures occurring in organisms
Spicule may also refer to:
*Spicule (sponge), small skeletal elements of sea sponges
*Spicule (nematode), reproductive structures found in male nematodes ( ...
. These spicules are classified as acanthostyles and consist of curved rods, with one end pointed and with whorls of spines on the shaft. The spicules are embedded in the sponge's tissues where they form a mesh-like, interlocking skeleton. The colour of this sponge is yellowish-brown, fawn or dark brown, sometimes with pale edges and it is said to resemble a piece of tanned cow-hide.
It is similar in appearance to ''
Agelas dispar
''Agelas dispar'' is a species of demosponge in the family Agelasidae. It lives on shallow-water reefs in the Caribbean Sea and around the West Indies.
Taxonomy
''Agelas dispar'' is the type species of the genus and was first described in 1864 b ...
'' but can be distinguished from that species by the size and shape of the spicules in its skeleton.
Distribution
The elephant ear sponge grows on rocks in the eastern Caribbean Sea and the Bahamas. The depth range is normally but it is found at shallower depths in caves.[
]
Biology
Like other sponges, the elephant ear sponge feeds by drawing water in through its pores, filtering
Filter, filtering or filters may refer to:
Science and technology
Computing
* Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming
* Filter (software), a computer program to process a data stream
* Filter (video), a software component tha ...
out the bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
and other fine organic particles and expelling the water through the osculi.predators
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...
but many have developed chemicals that make them distasteful to fish.[ The tissues of this sponge contain several ]secondary metabolite
Secondary metabolites, also called specialised metabolites, toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved in the norm ...
s, two of which have been shown to have immunosuppressive
Immunosuppression is a reduction of the activation or efficacy of the immune system. Some portions of the immune system itself have immunosuppressive effects on other parts of the immune system, and immunosuppression may occur as an adverse reacti ...
properties.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3516975
Agelasida
Animals described in 1883