Are sea sponges animals?

When you look at a sponge, the word animal might not be the first that comes to mind, but sea sponges are animals. There are over 5,000 species of sponges and most live in the marine environment, although there are also freshwater sponges. Sponges are classified in the phylum Porifera. read more

Although adult sponges are fundamentally sessile animals, some marine and freshwater species can move across the sea bed at speeds of 1–4 mm (0.039–0.157 in) per day, as a result of amoeba-like movements of pinacocytes and other cells. read more

In general, sponges aren't very tasty to most other marine animals. They can contain toxins and their spicule structure probably doesn't make them very comfortable to digest. Two organisms that eat sponges, though, are hawksbill sea turtles and nudibranchs. read more

Sponges can be found in variety of different sizes and shapes tubes, fans, cups, cones and blobs. Sponges are omnivorous animals that obtain their nutrition from the food particles in the water. Sponges primarily eat bacteria, phytoplankton and bits out of the water. read more