The Glass Tunnels of Barzoom Almost immediately, the authors, as well as many amateur researchers, began to find unusual anomalies all over Mars, from what appeared to be pools of stagnant water (with waves), to long tubular structures with supporting crossbars, to

The underwater world is so diverse and unique that sometimes it is even difficult to distinguish plants from animals. Such bizarre forms are the creatures living there. Large sea giants and very microscopic planktonic crustaceans, colorful and bright, predators and herbivores - an insane variety of species of living organisms. One of these amazing creatures are sponges, which will be discussed later.

general information

You can characterize the position of these animals in the following way:

• empire - Cellular;
• kingdom - Animals;
• subkingdom - Multicellular;
• type - Sponges.

To date, it is known that there are about 8 thousand species. 300 of them inhabit the expanses of the seas of our country.

Classification

The Sponge type combines all known representatives into four large classes.

1. Calcarea, or Calcareous. Formed in the form of deposited calcium salts.
2. Ordinary, or Kremnerogovye. The main representative is a badyaga.
3. Glass (Six-beam). The class size is small.
4. Coral - a very poor species class.

All of these sponges have their own characteristics not only external, but also internal structure, lifestyle and economic importance in human life.

External structure

Perhaps the most unusual in the whole characterization of the animals in question will be precisely the external appearance. The features of the external structure of the sponge are determined by the variety of body shapes that are characteristic of them. So, representatives of different classes can be in the form:

• glasses;
• bowls;
• tree structure.

The symmetry of the body in single forms is bipolar axial, in colonial forms it is mixed. Each individual has a special flat sole, with which it is attached to the bottom or other substrate. Sponges lead most often an immobile way of life.

On the upper side of the body is a special opening, which is called the "osculum". It serves to remove excess water from the internal cavity. Outside, the body is covered with a layer of cells - pinacoderm. They resemble in their structure the epithelial tissue of higher animals.

However, they also have distinctive features - the presence of wide pores. The structure of the sponge provides for the absorption of food particles not through the upper hole, but through numerous perforations penetrating the entire body, capable of contracting and expanding.

Under the outer layer are two more, which we will consider in more detail later. The color scheme of both single and colonial forms is quite diverse. There are the following types of coloring:

• gray;
• green;
• purple;
• yellow;
• white;
• red;
• brown;
• mixed.

The Sponge type brings the underwater world to life, making it even brighter, more colorful and attractive. Moreover, if we consider a single individual on the land surface, then it will have a very unattractive appearance: a brownish slippery lump resembling a raw liver, emitting a not very pleasant aroma.

The internal structure of representatives

Sponge body types are similar, whether solitary or attached to a colony. Immediately under the dermal outer layer of porous cells is a special intercellular substance that forms a fairly voluminous membrane. In it, the cells are located loosely, and their shape is different. The tissue is somewhat reminiscent of fatty tissue in higher terrestrial representatives. This structure is called mesohyl.

Under this layer is an internal cavity lined with a special row of cells. This is the gastric layer. All food goes here, and digestion takes place here. All waste products, together with excess water, are sent to the upper opening of the body and are brought out through it.

Also, the structure of the sponge necessarily includes a kind of skeleton. It is formed from lime, phosphorus, organic salts, which are produced in special mesochil cells. It not only gives the sponges a certain shape of the body, but is also important for the preservation of the internal cavity from mechanical damage.

The characteristic of the Sponge type will be incomplete if the main feature of these animals is not indicated - their body does not have tissues, but only includes layers of various shapes and forms. This is the main difference between the considered animals from all others.

The aquifer system of individuals is also interesting. It may be different for different classes. There are three main types of it:

1. Ascon - all communication with the external environment is carried out through a system of tubes through which water moves into special cell-chambers. The most simplified aquifer system found in a few representatives.
2. Seacon. A more advanced system, which includes a network of branched tubules and tubules that flow into special cell-cameras with flagella.
3. Leikon - a whole network of osculums, this type of aquifer system is typical only for colonial forms. The most complicated option against the background of all the previous ones.

Sponges reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sex cells are formed in the mesohyl layer. Then the products go out through the pores of the body and with the flow of water enter the bodies of other sponges, where fertilization occurs. As a result, a zygote is formed, giving rise to a larva. The fry can be called differently: amphiblastula, parenchymula, celloblastula.

If we talk about that, it is based on the process of budding, that is, detachment with subsequent regeneration of the missing structures. For the most part, the Sponge type includes hermaphroditic animals.

Lifestyle Features

If we consider the whole variety of multicellular animals of the world, then sponges should be attributed to the most primitive stage in terms of organization. However, these are also the most ancient animals that appeared many thousands of years ago. During the evolution of their organization, little has changed, they retain their characteristics over time. The life form of representatives has two manifestations:

• single;
• colonial.

Most often, mass accumulations of sponges are found among coral reefs. There are both freshwater species (their minority) and oceans (the overwhelming majority of species).

The Sponge type includes animals that feed on small organisms or their remains. In the structure of their body there are special collar cells with flagella. They just capture the floating particles of food, directing them into the internal paragastric cavity of the body. Digestion takes place inside the cells.

According to the method of obtaining food, sponges can be called passive hunters. They sit lazily in an attached place, waiting for passing nutrient particles. And only when they are already very close, they capture them through the pores and direct them, together with the flow of water, into the body.

Some species are able to move, despite the fact that they still have soles for attaching to the substrate. However, their speed is so low that for the whole day the individual is unlikely to move further than a meter.

Variety of sponges

For such primitive representatives, it is quite impressive - after all, there are about 8 thousand species of them! And according to some modern data, this figure is already approaching 9 thousand. External diversity is explained by the difference in body shape, skeleton types and body color of individuals (or colonies).

Grade Glass Sponges

Glass sponges are very interesting in their external variety. They are not as numerous as others, but have an unusual skeleton. These are one of the largest individuals that the Sponge type includes. The general characteristics of the representatives of this class can be expressed in several points.

1. The Latin name of the class is Hexactinellida.
2. The skeleton is formed from silicon compounds, so it is very durable.
3. Needle type body support, which is dominated by six-pointed structures.
4. Larvae of parenchymula or coeloblastula species.
5. Aquifer system of the leukon type.
6. More often colonial than solitary forms.
7. Sometimes up to 50 cm in height.

The most common representatives are such as:

• hyalonema siboldi;
• euplectella.

Class Ordinary, or Kremnerogovye, sponges

The Sponge type, a photo of whose representatives can be seen in this article, also includes the most numerous class in terms of the number of individuals - Kremnerogye, or Ordinary. They got their name for the features in the structure of the skeleton - it consists of silica and spongin. The hardness is quite gentle and easily destroyed. The shape of the spines of the skeleton is very diverse:

• asterisks;
• anchors;
• clubs;
• sharp needles and so on.

The most common freshwater representative is badyaga - a sponge used as an indicator of the purity of the reservoir. Outwardly unattractive, the color is brown-brown, sometimes dirty yellow. Used by man for various needs.

What other representatives are found among ordinary sponges?

1. Mixils.
2. Sea caravan.
3. Baikal sponge.
4. Marine brushes.
5. Giant chondrocladia and others.

Class Lime sponges

It includes representatives with a strong and beautiful calcareous skeleton. They live only in the seas and oceans. The coloration is pale or completely absent. The spines of the skeleton may have about three rays. The main representatives: ascons, sicons, leukandry.

Class Coral sponges

The fewest representatives that outwardly resemble coral branches. This happens due to the formation of a powerful calcareous skeleton of different colors and patterned structure.

Representatives: Nicholson's geratoporella, merlia. In total, only six species of such animals have been described. For a long time they were not distinguished from the coral reef system, so they were discovered relatively recently.

Human use of sponges

The economic importance of individuals belonging to the Sponge type is also important. Representatives are used for the following purposes:

1. They are participants in the food chain, as they themselves serve as food for many animals.
2. Used by people to make beautiful jewelry for the body and home interior.
3. They contain substances that allow them to be used for medical purposes (the bodyaga sponge has a resolving bruises and wound healing effect).
4. They are used to create hygienic sponges - natural natural products for the cosmetic industry.
5. Used for technical and other purposes.

GLASS SPONGE

or Hyalospongia? detachment of the sponge class (see the corresponding article) or Spongra s. Porifera. C. sponge? exceptionally deep-bottomed forms with a cohesive flint skeleton in the form of a trellised binding formed from needles of the six-beam type soldered together (Hexactinellidae). They are found in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, mainly off the coast of Japan and the Philippine Islands, at great depths (from 200–1500 ft.) in silt. Some representatives, such as Hyalonema and Euplectella, are distinguished by the extraordinary elegance of the flint skeleton (see Geographical distribution of animals). Fossils are found starting from the Silurian system.

Brockhaus and Efron. Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron. 2012

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what is GLASS SPONGES in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

• GLASS SPONGE
  the same as six-pronged ...
• GLASS SPONGE
  sponges, detachment like sponges; the same as...
• GLASS SPONGE
  or Hyalospongia - detachment of the class of sponges (see the corresponding article) or Spongra s. Porifera. S. sponges are exclusively deep-bottomed forms that have ...
• GLASS SPONGE
  the same as six-pronged ...
• SPONGE in the Encyclopedia of Biology:
  , a type of invertebrate animal. Primitively organized bilayer aquatic animals. Body saccular, high. from a few millimeters to 1.5 m. Inside there is ...
• SPONGE in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  
• SPONGE in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  (Porifera), a phylum of invertebrates. Includes the only class Spongia, represented by 4 orders: calcareous sponges, six-ray sponges (or glass), four-ray sponges ...
• SPONGE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
  Sponges (Spongiae s. Porifera) constitute, according to some, a class of intestinal cavities, according to others, a subtype or a separate type. Their body is very different ...
• SPONGE in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  
• SPONGE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  type of predominantly marine invertebrates. Skeleton made of flint or lime needles. Single sponges from a few mm to 3 cm high ...
• GLASS
  GLASS SPONGES, the same as six-pointed sponges ...
• SPONGE in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
  JUBKI, type preim. sea invertebrates. They have skeletal formations in the form of limestone, silica needles (spicules) or spongin protein fibers. Budding, they form ...
• SPONGE
  (Spongiae s. Porifera) ? constitute, according to some, a class of the type of coelenterates, according to others? subtype or separate type. Their body...
• SPONGE in the New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language Efremova:
  
• SPONGE in the Modern Explanatory Dictionary, TSB:
  type of predominantly marine invertebrates. They have skeletal formations in the form of limestone, silica needles (spicules) or spongin protein fibers. Budding, they form colonies. …
• SPONGE in the Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language Ushakov:
  BANTIKOM (colloquial joke.) - about a small mouth, advantage. female, with a sharply defined upper line ...
• SPONGE in the Explanatory Dictionary of Efremova:
  sponges pl. A family of lower invertebrates found in...
• SPONGE in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language Efremova:
  pl. A family of lower invertebrates found in...
• SPONGE in the Big Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
  pl. A family of lower invertebrates found in...
• SIX-POINT JAWS in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  sponges, glass sponges (Hexactinellida, or Hyalospongia), a class of sponges. Mostly solitary, typically oceanic organisms, usually living at depths of more than 100 ...
• FOUR-BEAM SPONGES in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  sponges (Tetraxonida), a detachment of marine sponges of the class of ordinary sponges (Demospongiae). Colonial or solitary organisms that live in the seas, mainly temperate and ...
• GLASS FIBERS in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  fibers, glass fibers, are made from molten glass in the form of elementary fibers with a diameter of 3-100 microns and a length of 20 km or more (continuous ...
• SIX-POINT JAWS in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
  or glass sponges (Hexactinellidae or Hyalospongia) - a suborder of flint sponges or Silicispongia. Characterized by the presence of a skeleton consisting of needles of three or, ...
• HORNY SPONGES in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
  (Ceraospongia or Keratosa) - detachment of the class of sponges (see) type of intestinal. They are characterized by the presence of a special horny skeleton, consisting of elastic, of various thicknesses ...
• HORNY SPONGES in the Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron:
  (Ceraospongia or Keratosa) ? detachment of the class of sponges (see) type coelenterates. They are characterized by the presence of a special horny skeleton, consisting of elastic, of various thicknesses ...
• Sponge antiseptic with kanamycin in the Medicines Directory.
• AVARS in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
  Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Attention, this article is not finished yet and contains only part of the necessary information. Avars (Greek Αβαροι, Old Russian ...
• GLASS in the Ancient Egyptian dictionary-reference book:
  Natural glass has been known to man since ancient times. Arrowheads, legs, etc. made by primitive man from natural volcanic glass (obsidian). …
• BARRIER CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS in the Medical Dictionary.
• BARRIER CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS in the big medical dictionary.
• NUCLEAR PHOTOGRAPHIC EMULSION in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  photographic emulsion, photographic emulsion designed to record traces of charged nuclear particles. Used in nuclear physics, particle physics…
• ELECTRICAL GLASS in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  glass, glass that has certain electrical properties and is used in electrical engineering and electronics as insulating and structural materials. Electrical insulating …
• ROD INSTRUMENT in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  the generalized name of the means of measuring and marking external and internal dimensions. W. is two measurements. surfaces (sponges), between which ...
• PIPES in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  hollow (hollow) cylindrical or shaped products, having a length greater than the cross section. With a relatively small mass, T. have a large ...
• CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  materials, natural and artificial materials and products used in the construction and repair of buildings and structures. Differences in purpose and conditions ...
• BUILDING GLASS in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  glass, glass products used for glazing light openings, transparent and translucent partitions, cladding and finishing of walls, stairs ...
• RECEPTION AND AMPLIFIER LAMPS in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  lamps, vacuum tubes, designed primarily for the amplification and detection of electrical signals, frequency conversion, rectification and generation of electrical ...
• MONTEORU in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  archaeological culture of the Middle Bronze Age (1700-1200 BC). Opened in 1917-18 near the village. Sarata-Monteoru (Buzau County) in Romania. …
• MODERN in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  style "modern" (French moderne - the latest, modern), one of the names of the style direction in European and American art of the late 19th - ...
• PHOTOMETRIC CUBE in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  photometric, a device for comparing the intensities of two light fluxes; represents two isosceles rectangular glass prisms 1 and 2 (see ...
• ELECTRIC CAPACITOR in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
  electrical, a system of two or more electrodes (plates) separated by a dielectric, the thickness of which is small compared to the dimensions of the plates; such...
• TRADE FAIRS in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
  (Jahrmarkt, Messe, French foire, English fair) - places of periodic congresses of merchants and the importation of goods, mainly for wholesale trade. Known in…
• EMBRYO SHEETS OR LAYERS in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron.

Glass sponges are a kind of marine, mostly deep-sea sponges, reaching 50 cm in height or more. Their body is most often goblet-shaped, bag-shaped or tubular, soft and easily torn like fragile felt, or, with a more significant development of the skeleton, rather hard and brittle. Color grey, brown, white or yellowish. Usually solitary radially symmetrical, rarely colonial organisms. These are sponges of a simplified leuconoid type with large tubular flagellar chambers. Their mesoglea is almost completely absent, and living tissue is largely represented by syncytia, which, in the form of thin membranes and a loose network of bridges, connect the highly developed skeleton of glass sponges. Flagellar chambers are also syncytal formations; individual choanocytes merge with each other bases. The covering epithelium is often absent or replaced by similar syncytia. In addition to nicknames, only amoeboid cells are found in the body of sponges.

The skeleton of glass sponges is built of silica in the form of amorphous aqueous silicic acid and consists of a wide variety of six-pointed needles and their derivatives. The rays of the needles are directed along three mutually perpendicular axes, which is why these sponges are also called triaxial or six-beam. Often one or more rays are reduced, and then five-ray, four-ray and even uniaxial needles are formed, and only small tubercles remain from the disappeared rays. The rays of the needles of glass sponges can be smooth or spiny, straight or curved, and sometimes bear swellings at the ends. In some sponges, the needles grow together at their ends so that a regular lattice frame with rectangular cells is formed, or the fused skeleton is a very irregular, intricate network of silicon crossbars. Microsclera in glass sponges are even more diverse and have a rather bizarre shape. Among them, hexastres and amphidisks are distinguished. Hexasters are basically small six-rayed needles, the rays of which at the ends are often equipped with numerous and varied appendages. Amphidisks, on the other hand, are similar to anchors, consisting of a thin rod, at both ends of which lobed outgrowths are located like a corolla. The skeleton of glass sponges is highly differentiated, and the needles of each shape occupy a strictly defined place in their body. The size of the needles of these sponges varies considerably. Macrosclera are usually measured in hundreds of microns, but can reach several tens of centimeters, and in exceptional cases even 3 meters in length. Microsclera are much smaller, their sizes vary on average from ten to one hundred microns.

Needles of glass sponges are formed in syncytia and have a complex microscopic structure. Each needle contains an organic axial thread inside, around which silica is located in layers. The layers are separated from each other by layers of organic matter.

Glass sponge class consists of two orders: Hexasterophora and Amphidiscophora.

Animal life: in 6 volumes. - M.: Enlightenment. Edited by professors N.A. Gladkov, A.V. Mikheev. 1970 .

See what "CLASS GLASS SPONGE (HYALOSPONGIA)" is in other dictionaries:

Six-beam sponges (Hyalospongia, or Hexactinellida), a class of sponges. Known since the Cambrian. Naib, varied and numerous were in the Cretaceous. Skeleton of flint six-beam needles (or their derivatives) with rays lying in three mutually perpendicular ... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary