Carnivorous sponges
Vacelet, J.; Boury-Esnault, N. (1995). Carnivorous sponges. Nature (Lond.) 373(6512): 333-335
In: Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science. Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 0028-0836; e-ISSN 1476-4687, more
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| Keywords |
Aquatic organisms > Heterotrophic organisms > Carnivores
Aquatic organisms > Marine organisms > Aquatic animals > Marine invertebrates
Availability > Food availability
Behaviour > Feeding behaviour
Biological phenomena > Adaptations
Biology > Functional morphology
Diets
Asbestopluma Topsent, 1901 [WoRMS]; Cladorhizidae Dendy, 1922 [WoRMS]; Porifera [WoRMS]
Mediterranean [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Abstract |
Extremely food-poor environments, such as the deep sea, place extraordinary demands on organisms with respect to feeding, resulting in modifications of the feeding strategies found in shallow waters. A general rule is that macrophagy becomes a better strategy than microphagous suspensions-feeding. The characteristics by which phyla are defined, nonetheless, remain unchanged in these adaptations. We present here an apparently unique example of a fundamentally different body plan, derived from a pre-existing phylum, occurring in deep-sea sponges. We demonstrate that the Cladorhizidae have evolved carnivory and capture small crustaceans by means of filaments provided with raised hook-shaped spicules. This adaptation to a food-poor deep-sea environment has resulted in the loss of the diagnostic characteristics of the phylum Porifera: an aquiferous system and choanocytes. |
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