AnimalBiological kingdomAnimals are multicellular, eukaryoticorganisms belonging to the biologicalkingdomAnimalia (). Animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have muscle cells, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. With few exceptions, animals are able to move. Animals form a clade, meaning that they arose from a single common ancestor.
MesohylThe mesohyl, formerly known as mesenchyme or as mesoglea, is the gelatinous matrix within a sponge. It fills the space between the external pinacoderm and the internal choanoderm. The mesohyl resembles a type of connective tissue and contains several amoeboid cells such as amebocytes, as well as fibrils and skeletal elements.
Sponge reefSponge reefs are reefs produced by sea sponges. All modern sponge reefs are formed by hexactinellid sponges, which have an endoskeleton made of silicaspicules and are often referred to as "glass sponges", while historically the non-spiculed, calcite-skeletoned archaeocyathid and stromatoporoid sponges were the primary reef-builders.
Cell (biology)Basic unit of life formsThe cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life or organisms. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'. A biological cell basically consists of a semipermeablecell membrane enclosing cytoplasm that contains genetic material. Most cells are only visible under a microscope.
Sessility (motility)Sessility, a property of certain animals, is a lack of self-locomotion. Sessile animals do not have natural motility, and are immobile unless there are external forces (such as water currents). Usually, sessile animals are permanently attached to a solid object, such as a rock, a dead tree trunk, or a human-made object such as a buoy or ship's hull. Organisms such as corals lay down their own substrate from which they grow.
SeabedThe seabed is the bottom of the ocean. Alternatively, it is known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, or ocean bottom. The floor of all the world's oceans is known as the seabed. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of the ocean is very deep, where the seabed is known as the abyssal plain.
MacrobenthosMacrobenthos consists of the organisms that live at the bottom of a water column and are visible to the naked eye. In some classification schemes, these organisms are larger than 1 mm; in another, the smallest dimension must be at least 0.5 mm. They include polychaete worms, pelecypods, anthozoans, echinoderms, sponges, ascidians, crustaceans.
Filter feederFilter feeders are aquatic animals that feed on organic matter, foodparticles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a specialized filteringorgan that sieves out and/or traps solids.
Marine invertebratesMarine invertebrates are invertebrateanimals that live in marine habitats, and make up most of the macroscopic life in the oceans. It is a polyphyleticblanket term that contains all marine animals except the marine vertebrates, including the non-vertebrate members of the phylumChordata such as lancelets, sea squirts and salps.
SpongillidaSpongillida is an order of sponges in the subclass Heteroscleromorpha, originally described as the suborderSpongillina. Members of this order are exclusively freshwater animals, and all freshwater sponges are currently considered part of this order, though the monophyly of this group has not yet been confirmed; it is currently unknown whether all freshwater sponges belong within a single natural group.
Multicellular organismA multicellular organism is an organism that consists of more than one cell, and more than one cell type, unlike unicellular organisms. All species of animals, land plants and most fungi are multicellular, as are many algae, whereas a few organisms are partially uni- and partially multicellular, like slime molds and social amoebae such as the genus Dictyostelium.
PhylumTaxonomic rankThe hierarchy of biological classification's eight major taxonomic ranks. A kingdom contains one or more phyla. Intermediate minor rankings are not shown.In biology, a phylum (, ; pl.: phyla) is a level of classification, or taxonomic rank, that is below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, the term division has been used in botany instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants accepts the terms as equivalent.
lophocyteRelated word or term.ostiumRelated word or term.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.