Lecture 7

Siliceous sponges

Siliceous sponges, or glass sponges, are incredibly long-lived animals, with some deep-sea species estimated to live over 10,000 years, potentially making them the oldest animals on Earth, thriving in deep, cold, nutrient-poor waters by filtering food efficiently with their complex silica skeletons. Their life cycle involves sexual reproduction with swimming larvae or asexual budding, while their glassy spicules grow like tree rings, recording ancient climate data, and they form massive, ancient reefs in the deep ocean.