- Key People:
- James Scott Bowerbank
The extraordinary capacity of sponges to regenerate is manifested not only by restoration of damaged or lost parts but also by complete regeneration of an adult from fragments or even single cells. Sponge cells may be separated by mechanical methods (e.g., squeezing a piece of sponge through fine silk cloth) or by chemical methods (e.g., elimination of calcium and magnesium from seawater). The dissociated cells then settle, migrate, and form active aggregates in which the archaeocytes play an important role. In order for small aggregates of cells to form larger aggregates, the cells must generally become attached to a surface, where they flatten and develop an envelope of special cells (pinacocytes); this is called the diamorph stage. Reconstitution of the choanocyte chambers and of the canal system follow soon afterward, resulting in a young sponge that is functional and able to grow. It is generally believed that the reconstitution process, even if it involves cell division, is not comparable with embryonic development, because the various types of dissociated cells participate in the formation of the new sponge by sorting and rearranging themselves, rather than by differentiating from primitive cell types. Regeneration in sponges is of theoretical interest in connection with cell-to-cell recognition, adhesion, sorting out, movement, and cell properties.
During unfavourable conditions, sponges are reduced to small fragments that may consist only of masses of archaeocytes covered by layers of pinacocytes. A complete sponge forms from these fragments when favourable conditions return.
The regenerative abilities of sponges, their lack of a central coordinating organ (brain), and the peculiar migratory ability of cells within the organisms combine to make it somewhat difficult to define sponge individuality. Zoologists involved in the study of sponges empirically define a sponge individual as a mass that is enveloped by a common ectoderm, i.e., by a common cellular layer.
Ecology
Most Porifera, very sensitive to a wide range of ecological factors, are difficult to raise in the laboratory. Few species (e.g., Hymeniacidon sanguinea) can tolerate long periods of emersion and variations in such physical factors as light, temperature, and salinity.
Habitats
Light can limit sponge survival in a given habitat. Littoral-dwelling sponges generally develop in caves, on shadowed walls, or under small shelters such as those provided by crevices. Some species, mainly in the tropics, however, are covered by a metre or less of water and thus are exposed to considerable irradiation from the sun. Symbiotic relationships between algae and sponges usually occur in strongly illuminated zones; the algae may act as a protective device because they deposit pigments in the superficial cell layers of the sponge. In some sponges (e.g., Petrosia ficiformis), colour is related to the number of symbionts; in a cave, for example, sponges gradually change from intensely coloured specimens to light-coloured, sometimes white, ones in the depth of the cave where the number of algae decreases.
Porifera of the family Clionidae (class Demospongiae) live in galleries they excavate in shells of mollusks, in corals, in limestone, and in other calcareous materials. The boring activities of clionids are accomplished by the excavation, possibly involving both chemical and mechanical action, of numerous, small chips of calcium carbonate. Cytoplasmic projections and films put out by sponge cells in contact with a calcareous surface apparently come into intimate contact with the calcium carbonate, resulting in the removal of particles of relatively uniform size. Clionid sponges weaken limestone breakwaters and coral reefs, making them more easily subject to further abrasion by waves. In addition, they weaken oystershells.
Although most sponges settle and grow on hard or rocky surfaces, some anchor to a firm object on soft bottoms, on sand, on mud, or on debris. Unattached sponges are rare. Different species may compete for a surface, and superposition of one species on another sometimes occurs; the presence of a rich population of different species on the same surface may help them to survive by the modifications each contributes to the environmental microclimate surrounding them, thereby providing protection against extreme fluctuations of physical factors such as temperature and light.