What are Poriferans?
“Poriferans” is the scientific term for sponges, members of the animal phylum Porifera, which means “pore-bearer” in Greek. Sponges are the simplest animals known. Unlike all other animal phyla, which have two or three-layered body plans (diploblastic or triploblastic), sponges have only a single body layer (monoblastic), and no true tissues. They have no appendages and no ability to make any movements, lacking muscle tissues. Sponges are exclusively aquatic. Poriferans get their nutrition by staying in one place, pumping water through themselves, and filtering it for small organisms and bits of food that they digest. Sponges are protected from predators by their low nutrition content as well as irritating spines distributed throughout their bodies, called spicules, which also double as a “skeleton.” Over 5,000 species are recognized by science, and new species are discovered regularly. This is partially because the range of sponges is so wide: they are found at every depth, from right
