What is a sponge?
Q: What is a sponge?
A: A sponge is a member of the phylum Porifera, which is a simple animal with many cells, but no mouth, muscles, heart or brain.
Q: How does a sponge move?
A: A sponge is sessile, which means it cannot move from place to place the way most animals can.
Q: How does a sponge feed?
A: Most sponges feed on bacteria and other microorganisms, while a few of them eat tiny crustaceans. They filter (take out) little bits of food from the water going through their bodies.
Q: Where do most sponges live?
A: Most sponges live in the ocean, while a few live in fresh water.
Q: How does water circulate through a sponge's body?
A: A sponge's body is full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them.
Q: How many species of sponge are there?
A: There are more than 10,000 species of sponge.
Q: What makes sponges unique in the animal kingdom?
A: Sponges are the oldest animals with fossil evidence, dating back to ~635 million years ago.
