So unusual and self-explanatory name the sponge deserves it appearance. Sea sponges in general are very amazing and not like anyone similar creatures.
Looking at the photo called “Venus’s basket”, you can immediately understand that this animal is the object of dreams of many collectors.
The unusual skeleton looks like a lace veil, as if enveloping this ephemeral creature. On the other hand, the sponge looks like a wicker basket. You can compare this creature with anything for a long time, one thing is for sure - this animal is unique in its kind.
The first information about this sponge appeared in 1841. In those distant times, the English naturalist Richard Owen was conducting research on the fauna of the Philippine Islands and accidentally came across an unusually beautiful sea creature. This was Euplectella aspergillum.
These living organisms, as a species, are rightfully considered one of the longest-livers of our planet, because the appearance of the ancestors of “baskets” on Earth is dated back to 420 - 440 million years ago.
Where do sponges called Venus baskets live?
These creatures can be found in western waters Pacific Ocean and in the eastern regions of the Indian Ocean.
Venus baskets prefer to settle in tropical areas. There are especially many of them near the Philippine Islands.
What is the difference between the basket of Venus and other representatives of sponges?
These animals are shaped like a vessel woven from airy threads. Externally, the sponge looks like a fragile basket. The animal's skeleton is based on a silicon composition. It consists of many ray needles, which is why the sponge belongs to the glass class - after all, its skeleton is as if invisible, and instead of it there is only “delicate lace”.
Nutrition and lifestyle of the basket of Venus
Representatives of this species prefer to lead single image life. Basket colonies are rather an exception to the rule. Settle in great depth, attaching to stones and other underwater substrate. They lead a mostly sedentary lifestyle.
The basket of Venus feeds on a variety of microorganisms, as well as organic remains. The sponge pushes food through its body, thereby supplying the body with nutrients.
Beneficial properties of sponges for humans and for the world of science
Oddly enough, but such primitive, at first glance, creatures serve as an indispensable support for science, in particular physics. Scientists around the world have concluded that glass sponges (and specifically Venus baskets) are an example for creating a new generation of optical fiber.
Looking at these bottom dwellers, scientific minds are trying to adopt the ability to build a skeleton from silicon at record low temperatures(after all, at great depths the temperature ranges from 2 to 10 degrees).
The crab probably came to admire the perfect skeletal structure glass sponges View of the Basket of Venus
Sea sponges are primitive organisms. These are invertebrate animals that spend almost their entire lives attached to rocks or the bottom. Sponges are found almost everywhere, from coastal zones to the deepest places in the ocean. Approximately 8,000 species of sponges are represented. They do not have real tissues and organs; their functions are performed by individual cells and layers of cells. Sponges feed by driving water through their own body. The filtrate, where small creatures and various organic particles fall, serves as food for the sponge.
There are also predatory sponges - there are about 140 species. These predators feed on crustaceans and other small animals. Sponges of the family Cladorhizidae use long sticky threads to hunt. cellular structure. When the victim is glued to the thread, it shortens, pulling the victim towards the sponge, which gradually envelops the victim and digests it. Sponges use water filtration not only to obtain food, but also to obtain oxygen for body tissues. According to experts, every day many types of sponges pump through themselves a volume of water that is 20,000 times greater than their own body volume. One of the most unusual species sponges - Cladorhizidae. These creatures can be called living fiber optics.
This sponge belongs to the class of glass sponges (six-beam sponges), which create their base from silicon dioxide. These living organisms are very beautiful, since the threads of the “skeleton” are intertwined in the most unusual combinations. Glass sponges of the phylum Cladorhizidae usually live with shrimp, which occupy the internal cavity of the skeleton. The shrimp swim inside as larvae, and after molting they remain to live inside, since they cannot pass through the cells of the glass net. The size of glass sponges reaches 20-30 centimeters.
Experts from Bell Labs were previously interested in glass sponges. Representatives of the company, having studied the fibers of the skeleton, concluded that the material is similar in structure to optical fiber. The length of the sponge fibers is 5-15 cm, and the diameter is 40-70 microns. The structure of the fibers is complex; they are multilayer objects. The center is a rod made of, in fact, quartz glass. This rod is surrounded by layers of organic matter and shell. Moreover, the shell has a special structure that makes it possible to conduct light through artificial fibers.
Specialists from Bell Labs were surprised by the fact that sponges create their fibers in water at low temperatures. Man produces optical fiber using expensive equipment at high temperatures in special ovens. According to specialist Joanna Eisenberg, sponges can be an example alternative way fiber optic production. Moreover, a feature of the material produced by sponges is its strength and flexibility. Such fibers are much less fragile and practically do not crack. They can be tied into a knot without any problems, and the optical properties of the channel will be practically unaffected. Light passes through such fibers very well, since the sponges use sodium ions when forming their glass skeleton, which improve the optical properties of the material. Naturally, sodium is added by these organisms under conditions of the same low temperature in aquatic environment. For fiber optic manufacturers, control of sodium ions in production process still poses a problem.
Bell Labs studied the structure of sponge optical fiber, finding that it consists of several layers. The optical properties of each layer are different. As mentioned above, the center of the sponge fiber is a rod of pure quartz glass. Concentric layers of glass surround the rod as the sponge grows. It is this structure that makes the fiber formed by the sponge very resistant to breaks and cracks. The individual layers are glued together using a special organic glue. As the skeleton forms, the individual fibers intertwine together to form something like a lattice.
The skeletal structure of glass sponges has much in common with the structure of buildings and structures created by humans. True, the “buildings” that the sponge creates are 1000 times smaller than most objects of this type created by man. The photo shows the Swiss Tower from London, Hotel De Las Artes from Barcelona and a structural element of the Eiffel Tower
The lattice is reinforced by a special substance (mesoglea), and the skeleton of the sponge, under the influence of mesoglea and the sheath of fibers, becomes quite strong. According to experts, such a structure is similar to that used by architects who create buildings under seismic conditions. hazardous areas. Such material can be slightly deformed, but it is very difficult to break. Evolving, sponges learned to build the strongest possible skeletons from minimum quantity material. The researchers say the sponge uses just the amount of material needed and no more.
Interestingly, sponges of the species Euplectella aspergillum (the “Venus’s Basket” already mentioned above) are attached to the bottom using elastic glass spicule needles, the diameter of which is 50 microns. Their length can reach 10 centimeters. These spicules are very strong, so it is very difficult to break them by tearing off the sponge.
Last year, scientists studying glass sponges conducted a simulation mechanical properties artificial fibers of these creatures. The goal was to find the optimal sequence of cylinder thicknesses to achieve maximum tensile strength of the skeleton. As it turned out, the calculated parameters are very close to the real ones. Sponges use a decrease in thickness from the center to the edge.
Joanna Eisenberg argues that the glass sponge skeleton is one of the best solutions in mechanical engineering. Perhaps this material can help humans discover new possibilities in materials science and improve engineering design. This structure is very complex, this applies to both individual fibers and the entire skeleton as a whole. “This baffles me. I can’t imagine how sponges form their skeleton from individual fibers, creating almost perfect structures,” Eisenberg said. Scientists now suggest that in the center of each fiber during its formation there is a protein that plays important role in the creation of both the core and the entire optical fiber as a whole.
"It's amazing how many engineering construction techniques use sponges to create the skeleton," says James Weaver, a scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
This group includes glass sponges, in which the microsclera are represented by various hexasters. Often the large needles of these sponges, connecting with each other, form a skeleton in the form of a spatial lattice.
Characteristic representatives of the detachment:
basket of Venus(family Euplectellidae), having a cylindrical body, large goblet-shaped
or saccular Ross sponges(family Rossellidae)
And colonial sponges from the family. Euretidae, the body of which is formed by branched and unevenly fused thin-walled tubes.
Some glass sponges have a very beautiful and graceful skeleton. Cleared of organic matter The skeleton of such sponges is used as decoration and souvenirs.
The already mentioned sponge is especially beautiful basket of Venus(Euplectella). Her skeleton looks like a delicate openwork cylinder of such an intricate and delicate structure that it seems to have been made by a skillful human hand. They say that the first copy of this sponge, brought to Europe, was bought for the fabulous sum of 600 marks. And to this day, the basket of Venus is considered a very valuable decoration.
Another glass sponge hyalonema(Hyalonema), has a rounded body sitting at the end of a rod of very long thick needles. The skeleton of this sponge is used as a whole or its individual parts are glued together into fancy artificial decorations.
The fishery for both of these sponges is concentrated mainly off the coast of Japan and the Philippine Islands. The extraction of glass sponges is fraught with great difficulties, since they live at considerable depths and have a very fragile skeleton.
Order Amphidiscophora
The sponges of this order contain microsclera in the form amphidisks, whereas hexasters are completely absent from their skeleton.
A typical representative of the squad is sponge hyalonema(family Hyalonematidae), has a goblet-shaped or oval body sitting on a long bunch of needles, with the help of which the sponge takes root in the ground.
This also includes giant sponge monoraphy(Monorhaphis chuni), having a strongly spongy cylindrical body about 1 m in height, which is pierced in the form of an axis by a needle reaching a length of 3 m with a thickness of 8.5 mm.
The body is cylindrical, up to 30 cm long, and consists of hexagonal needles, which contain silica. Deep sea species tropical zone Pacific and Indian oceans.
In Japan, euplectella is associated with wedding ceremony. When young people get married, they receive a beautiful translucent basket with a pair of dried shrimps inside as a gift. The Japanese have long noticed that in each such sponge there live two shrimp - a male and a female. They get there at the larval stage and, when they grow up, they can no longer leave it. Therefore, the gift is for the newlyweds symbolic meaning- he serves as a personification constant love, fidelity and long marital happiness. Translated from Japanese, the sponge is called “to live, grow old and die together.”
Basket of Venus
Few zoologists study sponges. This can be explained simply - big practical significance they do not have, are unattractive in appearance, not like, for example, birds, tigers or sea stars. At the same time, the name of one of the largest Russian specialists in sea sponges is known to everyone. Nowadays, few people remember that the great Russian traveler, ethnographer and anthropologist Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay was a zoologist by training. A student and assistant of the great Ernst Haeckel, he worked a lot on the sponges of our seas. At the end of many scientific names sponges living in northern seas, we meet the name of the author of the species description – Miclucho-Maclay.
End of work -
This topic belongs to the section:
Sponges. Classes: limestone, glass, ordinary
This lesson is carried out after studying the type of Protozoa and is a lesson according to the program V V Pasechnik's textbook V V Latyushin V A Shapkin M.. Biology lesson in the class on the topic.. Sponges Classes lime glass ordinary..
If you need additional material on this topic, or you did not find what you were looking for, we recommend using the search in our database of works:
What will we do with the received material:
If this material was useful to you, you can save it to your page on social networks:
| Tweet |
All topics in this section:
Cross section through the wall of the sponge body 1 - mouth, 2 - body cavity, 3 - channels
2. The body consists mainly of a gelatinous substance, inside of which there is a skeleton of protein, calcium carbonate or silica. Sponges belong to cellular level of organization 3.
Three types of sponge body structure: the dark stripe indicates the choanocyte layer
8. Most sponges are hermaphrodites. Reproduction is sexual and asexual. Asexual reproduction occurs through budding, sometimes internal. The buds that form on the body are usually not a part of
Where is the sponge used?
History of sponge use 1. Toilet sponge in ancient Rome. Toilet paper the ancient Romans did not know; instead they used a simple device - an ordinary Mediterranean g
Http://biouroki.ru/crossword/biologiya-7-klass-latushin/gubki.html
1. Deep-sea forms of sponges
Symbiosis of sponges with other organisms
Many animals found on the surface and inside sponges enter into harmless or mutually beneficial relationships with them. These are many crustaceans, some polychaete worms(polychaetes)
Hermit crab with cork sponge
It should be emphasized that the biological relationships between crustaceans and sponges are very diverse. There are about 500 different cases of more or less close connections, which are considered to be
Dromia crab
Some crabs playfully exploit the unattractiveness of sponges to predators. They carry pieces of sponges on their backs, supporting them with their hind limbs. Such Dromia crabs are cut with their claws according to
Sponge mining
Kalymnos. Sponge divers. Kalymnos is a fairly small island in the Aegean Sea, part of a group of over 50 Dodecanese islands in southern Greece. Although diving for sponges was the source
Sponge "Venus Basket"
The goddess Venus reigns not only among flowering gardens; even the ruler of the ocean Neptune and the inhabitants of his deep-sea kingdom do not dare to resist her power of beauty and perfection. The lace of the best Flemish craftswomen, which by a whim of nature ended up on the seabed, biologists did not hesitate to name after the most beautiful one - in honor of the goddess of love Venus. Euplectella aspergillum or Venus' Basket is an amazing living creature, unanimously recognized as the most beautiful of the sea sponges. Her skeleton has a truly unearthly beauty, simultaneously reminiscent of an elegant vase, a lace scarf, and a bride’s veil. A basket woven by nature from silicon salt fibers, in which you would not be ashamed to present flowers even to Venus herself.
|
Sponge "Venus Basket" |
Encyclopedic data. Kingdom - animals, phylum - sponges, class - glass or six-rayed sponges, order - Lyssacinosida, family - Euplectellidae. First to classify and describe mysterious creature famous explorer Flora and Fauna of the Philippines, English zoologist and paleontologist Sir Richard Owen in 1841. Currently, science knows 15 species of sponges, which are united by the name Basket of Venus.
An interesting fact: the first basket of Venus brought to Europe was sold for 600 marks, a fantastic amount at that time even for jewelry.
The Basket of Venus is a sea animal. Its habitat extends mainly to a tropical climate: the western Pacific Ocean and the eastern Indian Ocean. Most sponges, the Venus basket and absolutely all its species, are found in the waters of the Philippine archipelago, namely local residents were the first to find a way to carefully process a sponge and began to use its skeleton as an amulet or decoration. The shelves of islands and continents are a favorite place for sponges to settle. The Basket of Venus is a predominantly solitary animal, with rare exceptions it is colonial. A comfortable depth for a sponge to live is 400-600 meters; some specimens can be found either a hundred meters from the sea surface or one kilometer.
The Basket of Venus, in addition to its beauty, can also boast of its age. This is the oldest animal, the fossilized remains of which are 400 million years old and belong to the Silurian paleontological period.
It is worth noting that the meaning of the name of the sponge is fully revealed only when its calcareous skeleton becomes visible. A special solution and a gentle digestion process remove the soft tissue, and after this the unique pattern of the internal structure of the sponge is always revealed.
The lifestyle of the basket of Venus is largely unknown, since it is not yet possible to conduct research at a depth of more than 400 meters. A sponge is a sessile animal, that is, attached to the bottom or rocky substrate. Sponge food consists of organic remains and microorganisms.
The sponge skeleton is covered with a soft shell, which includes epithelium and mesoglea. The thickness of the mesoglea between the epithelial cells is penetrated by channels, which have chambers along their length, the inner surface of which is covered with choanocytes - flagellated cells that push water and microorganisms through the channels through the body of the sponge.
|
|
|
Sponge "Basket of Venus" |
The basket of Venus is a small creature, the average length of a fragile sea vase is 10-12 centimeters, but there are exceptions up to one and a half meters long. The body of the sponge is a cylinder, the base is living geometric figure- this is a skeleton made of silicon, which, in turn, is a connection of six-beam needles. Fragile snow-white creatures are real chemists, they synthesize silicic acid compounds from sea water followed by conversion to silica. Silica further serves as a major component in the formation of the natural fiberglass Venus Basket skeleton frame. Each element of the frame is a thin thread, approximately equal in thickness to a human hair, so it is not difficult to guess that the skeleton of a sponge is fragile, delicate, weightless, and airy.
The orientation of the six-rayed spines of the skeleton is interesting, which creates the amazing structures of the sponge skeleton. The needle beams are in a mutually perpendicular position relative to each other. The basket of Venus is often called a glass sponge; the thinnest silicon needles literally look like the work of the best glassblowers, so the name is justified in every letter. Even biologists added to the classification an equivalent synonym for six-rayed ones - glass sponges.
IN Lately Physicists began to become interested in the skeleton of Venus's basket. It turns out that the properties of the sponge skeleton, or rather most of its components, ideally meet the requirements of fiber optics technology; wires created by “nature” are superior in quality to analogues developed by man. What exactly do physicists need from a deep-sea sponge? On at this stage development, the production of optical fiber takes place at high temperatures, which does not allow for maximum effective monitoring of the quality and properties of the final product. The basket of Venus “can” produce fiber at temperatures from 2 to 10 degrees! Consequently, scientists are scratching their heads about how to adopt the technology from animals and successfully produce optical fiber from silica at low temperatures. This would not only simplify and reduce the cost of the manufacturing process, but would also allow humanity to obtain higher quality optical materials and fibers.
And more about the practical use of glass sponges. The Venus basket skeleton can help create inexpensive and productive elements for solar cells.
The basket of Venus is named after the Roman celestial goddess not only for amazing beauty. Don't forget that Venus is the goddess of love. The deep-sea namesake of the goddess does not lag behind her patroness and demonstrates a unique symbiosis for nature with deep-sea shrimp - Spongycola venus - and some species of the smallest crustaceans.
Small crustaceans at the beginning of their life path penetrate into the cavity of the sponge and happily live in it, feeding on organic matter that Venus’s basket pumps through itself along with water. A kind of cornucopia that, in addition, provides safety. The shrimp are in no hurry to leave their cozy home in the cavity of the sponge, but sooner or later you have to pay for any comfort: the shrimp grow, the openwork mouth of the sponge through which they climbed becomes narrow for them, and the satisfied inhabitants turn into no less satisfied, but now prisoners. Surprisingly, the prisoners are always a male and a female; they reproduce in their glass prison and do not experience the discomfort of lifelong imprisonment. Young shrimp are released into freedom the same way their parents got into the sponge - through the mouth. According to natural biologists, a pair of shrimp living in the cavity of Venus’s basket receives food not only from the vital activity of the sponge itself. The skeleton of the sponge in the deep-sea darkness emits a rather bright glow, attracting microscopic animals, which become both prey for both the basket of Venus and the shrimp living in it. The above case of symbiotic relationships should be classified as mutualism, since there is no benefit or benefit for the sponge from the “tenants,” but there is no harm, or at least science has not yet identified any harm.
A pair of shrimp spends their entire life in the cavity of Venus's basket. The Japanese saw this as a symbol of marital fidelity and endless love. Therefore, a long time ago, a tradition arose in the Land of the Rising Sun: to give newlyweds a basket of Venus with a pair of shrimp inside. The souvenir should be kept as long as the marriage lasts. And not only do two small crustaceans help the bonds of love, Venus herself favors those who take care of the talisman that bears her divine name.
Loading...
