Simple animals fixed to the seabed, with bodies full of pores and channels. They have no true tissues, organs or nerves: beating cells pull water through the body and filter out tiny food. Most live in the sea, but some live in fresh water.
Quick answers
What is it?Sponge
Carnivore?Omnivore
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Day & night
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inOceans, Rivers
HabitatCoast, Open ocean, Rivers & lakes
ColoursYellow, Orange, Brown
SizeSmall
LegsNone
Covered inSkin
Lives incolonies
Lives forA few years to centuries
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Seas worldwide, from the tide zone to more than 8,800 m deep; freshwater sponges live on every continent except Antarctica.
- What it eats
- Bacteria-sized particles and other tiny food filtered from the water it pumps through its body.
Did you know
An animal with no nerves, organs or true tissues; some slow-growing sponges may be thousands of years old.
Some sponges can rebuild their whole body from cells that have been separated from each other.
Their skeletons were the original bath and cleaning sponges, though few are used that way now.
Often confused with
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