What do tube sponges eat

Sponges are also squishy like a kitchen sponge, too. As the seawater goes through the tiny holes the plankton is sifted out. The plankton becomes the sponge's dinner!

The sifted seawater is then squirted out through one or more large holes in the sponge like smoke coming out of a chimney. The seawater is clear so you can't see it coming out. Because sponges can't run away or hide, they have other ways to protect themselves from being eaten. The fire sponge causes itching and burning if touched. The body of a sponge is made of tiny needles spicules that look and feel like slivers of glass! Sponges also taste really bad. Eating a sponge would be like eating a bunch of bad tasting fiberglass insulation Insulation is the stuff that is crammed between the walls of your house.

The only animals that eat these slivery, bad tasting sponges are angelfish and hawksbill sea turtles, like the one we saw eating a sponge yesterday. Because almost no one eats sponges small animals will use sponges as places to hide. They know the no one is going to try to eat into the sponge to get them. As we pass over a big 2 feet tall basket sponge we see an animal hiding inside. Tube sponges take in ocean water while they swallow plankton, bacteria, and dead organic material.

I am sure they eat more but that's just some foods for tube sponges. They eat bacteria, plankton and detritus. Many coral reef organisms eat yellow tube sponges like angelfishes, filefishes, cowfishes and spadefish. Also the Hawksbill sea turtle. Yes they are. Tube sponges can come in yellow, white, purple, brown, lavender, and red. The reasons why any animal eats a particular organism is never clear.

A top reason why Nudibranchs might eat 'toxic sponges' is that there was not much else available to eat and it was easy to eat the sponges.

These sponges were a niche that was unfilled and the Nudibranches adapted to take it. The sponges are still partially toxic to Nudibranchs! They often have specially lined stomachs to protect them from the sponges sharp spicules and the toxins from the sponge accumulate in them. When a predator tries to eat a nudibranch it gets a nasty mouthful of these toxins.

Some enemies are algae and barnacles. Sponges have a filter feeding system. Cells on the outside of the sponge are designed to collect food consisting of plant and animal particles from the water. This is from www. The coral may have succombed to the algae and sponges that grew over the polyps and killed them.

On heavily disturbed reefs, where sediment or algae cover most hard surfaces, the yellow tube sponge can struggle to establish itself. Most sponges have a glass-like skeletal structure made of silicates, but the yellow tube sponge does not. Consequently, it has been collected for use as a bath sponge in the past. Fortunately for this species, synthetic sponges have eliminated the market for its fishery, and it is only rarely collected today. However, because this species lives mostly on coral reefs, changes to that fragile system caused by irresponsible human behavior may threaten the yellow tube sponge.

Click here or below to download hands-on marine science activities for kids. Protect Habitat. View All. The Giant Barrel Sponge is a sessile organism, which means it is fixed in one place. Due to the presence of Cyanobacteria symbionts, its color ranges from salmon pink to purple. The most common colors are brown, reddish-brown, grey, and purple. It tends to be darker in color in the shallow waters and lighter at greater depths.

Giant Barrel sponges also undergo periodic bleaching but recover their original color over time. The Giant Barrel Sponge generally has a very long lifespan. It can vary from a few hundred to a few thousand years. The largest known and photographed Giant Barrel Sponge was found along the Curacao coast and said to be almost years old. Giant Barrel Sponges are believed to be dioecious and reproduces sexually, unlike many other sponges.

Reproduction occurs through spawning, whereby localized male sponges release sperms, and female sponges release eggs into the water column simultaneously in the time frame of approximately one hour. This process takes place at least twice a year, commonly around spring and summer. Fertilization takes place in the water itself, and the larvae are carried away by the water currents. There is very little information on larval development. Their growth is highly variable and depends on factors such as competition, nutrition, predation, wave surge, and disease.

It can also be found as far south as Venezuela. In some areas, such as the coral reef around Florida, the Giant Barrel Sponge can have a density of approximately 0. They are benthic organisms and are usually found at depths between meters. The Giant Barrel Sponge is a filter feeder, which means that it feeds on particles collected by pumping water through its body.