Sponge Dissection TEACHER KEY

Comparing Anatomy - Invertebrates

Sponge Scienstructable Key and Functions Page 1
In the chart below, write the name of each structure, color the box according to the key
provided, and write the function and or location of each structure using the reading.
# Organ Color Function
1 Branch Sponge color Individual divisions of sponge body

Outer layer of sponge; acts as epidermis; protects and

2 Ectoderm Sponge color
supports

3 Pinacocytes Pink Plate-like cells that make up the ectoderm of the sponge

4 Endoderm Sponge color Inner layer of sponge body; lines the spongocoel

Collared cells with a flagellum; move water and help to

5 Choanocytes Green
obtain nutrients; function in reproduction
Jelly-like matrix found between the endoderm and
6 Mesohyl Sponge color
ectoderm; made by collenocytes
Needle-like structures that provide skeletal support of
7 Spicule White
sponge; made of calcium carbonate, spongin, or silicon
Pores on surface of sponge body; bring water into the
8 Ostia Purple
central cavity

9 Holdfast Sponge color Holds sponge to substrate surface

10 Spongocoel Tan Central cavity of the sponge

Opening at the top of the sponge; water exits through

11 Osculum Tan
the osculum

12 Porocyte Purple Cells that make up the ostia; may open or close the pore

Cell in mesohyl; responsible for engulfing and digesting

13 Amoebocyte Green
food particles

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Sponge Dissection: TEACHER KEY
Comparing Anatomy - Invertebrates
What You Do:
We recommend that you thoroughly read all instructions and assemble your own model prior to teaching this
lesson with students. This will give you a better understanding of time required to complete this project with
your students, as well as any areas that you may need to clarify for them. While using scissors is perfectly
acceptable to cut out the model, we found that using a razor blade is easiest for intricate or delicate parts.
Models will be more durable if printed on cardstock. Printing the template using the highest quality print
setting before making copies will ensure that you can see all numbers easily on the template. Printing the key
and extension questions front to back will conserve paper as well as make the assembly of the key in the final
project easier. Our estimated time frame for completion of this project in class is 3-5 days. Breaking the organ
systems into chunks might make facilitation of the lesson more manageable for students who need
modification. Challenge higher performing students with individual construction once the teacher-led portion
of the key is complete. All answers for the model construction are provided in the PowerPoint. Extra space is
added in the organ key if you choose to locate additional structures that are not included in this model.
Extension questions are answered below.
Extension Questions
Using what you have learned about the sponge, answer the following questions below.
1. What evidence supports the notion that sponges are some of the earliest known multicellular animals?
Sponges have a primitive body shape, being the only asymmetrical organisms in the animal kingdom. They
lack body systems while most every other animal has a digestive system, and often other body systems that
coordinate with one another to sustain life.
2. List and describe the various ways that sponges can reproduce.
Depending on the species, some sponges can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sponges are
hermaphrodites and carry the capability of producing both sperm and eggs at the same time. Reproductive
oocytes and spermatocytes live and move freely within the mesohyl and are made by the choanocytes or
other cells located within the mesohyl. During sexual reproduction, sperm are released through the osculum
and float through the water using the current until they locate a sponge of the same species. The sperm are
then captured by the choanocytes, but instead of being engulfed, they are absorbed into the mesohyl where
they are taken to the eggs to be fertilized. Sponges have three methods of asexual reproduction – budding,
fragmentation and gemmules. In budding, a new sponge will arise from the existing sponge and detach,
leaving behind a scar. With rough ocean currents and tides, fragmentation is also very common. In
fragmentation, pieces of an existing sponge will break off. As long as the fragment contains archeocytes and
collenocytes, the sponge can create pinacocytes and choanocytes to move and attach to a new surface and
begin to regrow within a few days. Gemmules are a last-ditch effort for some marine and freshwater sponges
that may be dying off or living in poor conditions. Gemmules are essentially “survival pods” which contain
archeocytes and nutrients, surrounded by a shell of spongin and often spicules. Gemmules can go dormant,
surviving cold, drought, extreme changes in salinity (salt), or lack of oxygen. Once conditions are right for
germination, the archeocytes become pinacocytes and begin the process of rebuilding, with some archeocytes
differentiating into other cell types necessary for sponge growth.
3. How does having multiple methods of reproduction support the longevity of sponges in the fossil record?
Throughout history, all of these methods support longevity by allowing the sponge to continue reproduction
in times of extreme circumstances, whether they are physically separated during times of predation or tidal
events, or during extreme drought, high salinity, the like.
4. Based on the way sponges obtain food, why wouldn’t you find a sponge living in the abyssal zone?
Sponges are filter feeders, endosymbionts with photosynthetic organisms or opportunistic carnivores. Very
little light, food, or small crustaceans make it to the abyssal zone, so a sponge would not likely be found there.

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