Article
Article
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Carnivorous demosponge biology
Article By:
Lundsten, Lonny Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, California.
Last reviewed:2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB140330
An unusual group of sponges, belonging to the class Demospongiae in the phylum Porifera, with a lie-and-wait mode of predation has been shown to be unique among multicellular taxa and has a body plan that defies the general description for this phylum. In a description of the sponge Cladorhiza abyssicola dating to the late 1880s, it was observed that “due to a lack of an aquiferous system the sponge must have some other means of obtaining nutrients.” However, not until 1995 did direct observations confirm that carnivory (carnivorousness) was indeed present in this group of demosponges.
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