Habitat
Where do sponges live?
Sponges are a very diverse group of aquatic animals that inhabit
both aquatic and freshwater environments around the world; however,
the majority tend to live in an ocean aquatic environment. In
general, sponges inhabit the aquatic environments near the tropics due
to warmer waters. Also, they tend to live in clear waters apposed
to more “murky” areas with high current. The high current murky
environments tend to clog up the specialized pores that sponges use
as a primary method for acquiring food. Despite this, freshwater
sponges have been found much further away from the tropics, adapting
to each of their own specific environments. For more general
sponge knowledge feel free to visit
THIS PAGE!
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If you want to take a look at other organisms that live in
the same ecosystems as sponges in general, feel free to check out,
the
Great Seahorse, the
Common Starfish,
Red Algae, or the
Atlantic Spotted Dolphins! These and many more can be
found on
MultipleOrganisms.net!
What about the Florida sponges?
In southern Florida there are a wide range of species of sponges
that exist in the shallow waters off its coast. Although there are
some sponges that exist in deeper water, they tend to domin
ate those
shallow-water communities. In fact, in the southern Florida
environment, sponges outnumber coral species and represent a higher
percentage of living colonies in surrounding reef and rocky bottom
areas. For more information on Florida sponges please visit
HER
E!
Cryptotethya crypta, a sponge that yields very important medicinal
derivatives, was originally found in the shallow waters off the
coast of Elliot Key, Florida, in 1945 by a young scientist by the
name of, Werner Bergmann. A few years later the same species was
again found in the Bimini Islands by the same scientist and one of
his taxonomist associates, Dr. M. W. de Laubenfels, who went on to
name the species . Today known locations span across the
coastlines of the Mediterranean.
In following years and research on related organisms to Cryptotethya crypta, there has been a wide range of findings of other medicinal
sponges from Hawaii all the way to India and beyond.
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If you would like to learn about other organisms that live in
the same aquatic ecosystems as Cryptotethya crypta, please
take a look at, the
Common Snapping Turtle, the
American Alligator,
Salinispora tropica, or the
Atlantic Horseshoe Crab! These and many more can be found
on
MultipleOrganisms.net!
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