The sponge(invertabrate animal)Plzz help me!!!?

Question

Ok let me ask u these questions:What is an Invertabrate?
Describe how the sponge protects itself.
Describe the Sponge(physical characteristics).
List the sponge's favorite foods.
Describe where the sponge lives(habitat).
tell what u know about the sponge's life cycle.
Tell three most interesting facts about the sponge(behaviors).

......If u can answer ALL of these questions i will pick u as BEST ANSWER!!!!So plz HELP ME!!

Answer 1

I may not cover everything for sponges, but I'll try...I'm sure I am missing some stuff. Sorry

I guess I'll just go through them one at a time ;)

First off...an invertebrate is an organism that is lacking a backbone/spinal column.

1. How sponges protect themselves..
The best protection that a sponge has to offer is the fact that they have few enemies. They not only have an elaborate skeletal framework, they often give off a noxious odor that is a major turn off to many predators.

2. Describe the sponge (physical characteristics)
This has the potential to be a very, very long answer. Just as a really quick overview, sponges usually have one of three basic structures: asconoid (the simplest), syconoid, and leuconoid (the most complex and commonly found in most sponges). Each one of these structures have their advantages and disadvantages. Those dots you usually see on sponges are different canals that make up these structures. The canals are used (with help from different cells) to push water in and out of the sponge. The sponge cells are loosely arranged in a gelatinous matrix called the mesohyl. It's like the "connective tissue".

3. The sponges favorite foods
Sponges feed primarily on different particles suspended in water that they can filter through their canals. These particles are usually detritus particles, planktonic organisms, and bacteria.

4. Describe where the sponge lives (habitat)
Almost all of the sponge species are marine, but there are about 150 or so species of sponges that are in fresh water.

5. Sponge's life cycle
The first thing to realize is that sponges are capable of sexual and asexual reproduction.
In sexual reproduction, some sponges are monoecious (both male and female parts) and will release the sperm into the water and it is carried in through the canals (or it will just use it's own sperm and eggs) where an embryo will develop in that gelatinous matrix, and when it is mature, it escapes out of the canals and will either go to a new location where it will attach itself to begin growing or it will stay close to form a colony.
In asexual reproduction, it is common for a sponge to "bud"; which simply means a part of the sponge will begin to slowly form out and away from the sponge and eventually break off to find a new location or stay close and form a colony.

6. Three interesting sponge behaviors. (sorry I don't know if this is what you mean when you say behaviors)
There is a remote family of sponges found in deep-water caves that are carnivores. They go out and catch their own food!
Concerning reproduction...a sponge can start as a small little bud and grow to be a huge colony on it's own!
Sponges actually don't have respiratory or excretory organs, it is all done by diffusion!


Sorry that this is long and drawn out, and I'm not sure if this is what you wanted, but I tried! :) Unfortunately, it is sometimes not easy to describe all of that in a small area, but I hope you understand some of what I was trying to get at. ;)I hope it helps some though.