Spongilla

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Spongilla
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Demospongiae
Order: Haplosclerida
Family: Spongillidae
Genus: Spongilla
Lamarck, 1816
Species
  • Spongilla alba Carter, 1849
  • Spongilla arctica Annandale, 1915
  • Spongilla aspinosa Potts, 1880
  • Spongilla benguelensis Stephens, 1919
  • Spongilla cenota Penney & Racek, 1968
  • Spongilla chaohuensis Cheng, 1991
  • Spongilla dawson Bowerbank, 1864
  • Spongilla friabilis Lamarck, 1816
  • Spongilla gutenbergiana Müller, Zahn & Maidhof, 1982
  • Spongilla helvetica Annandale, 1909
  • Spongilla inarmata Annandale, 1918
  • Spongilla jiujiangensis Cheng, 1991
  • Spongilla lacustris (Linnaeus, 1759)
  • Spongilla mucronata Topsent, 1932
  • Spongilla permixta Weltner, 1895
  • Spongilla prespensis Hadzische, 1953
  • Spongilla sarasinorum Weltner, 1901
  • Spongilla shikaribensis Sasaki, 1934
  • Spongilla stankovici Arndt, 1938
  • Spongilla wagneri Potts, 1889

Spongilla is a genus of freshwater sponge in the family Spongillidae. They are found in lakes and slow streams. Sponges of the genus Spongilla attach themselves to rocks and logs and filter the water for various small aquatic organisms such as protozoa, bacteria, and other free-floating pond life. Unlike marine sponges, fresh-water sponges are exposed to far more adverse and variable environmental conditions, and therefore they have developed gemmules as a means of dormancy. When exposed to excessively cold or otherwise harsh situations, the sponges form these gemmules, which are highly resistant "buds" that can live dormantly after the mother sponge has died. When conditions improve, the gemmules will "germinate" and a new sponge is born.

Spongilla was used by John Hogg (biologist) in the nineteenth century to attempt to justify a fourth kingdom of Life.

References

  • Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 19, 2007 at http://animaldiversity.org.
  • "freshwater sponge." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 19 Feb. 2007 <http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article-9035382>.
  • Carolina Biological. Protozoa and Invertebrates Manual. Burlington NC: 1980.
  • Hogg, John (1860), "On the distinctions of a plant and an animal and on a fourth kingdom of Nature", Edinb N Phil J (N Ser) 12: 216–225 

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