What are totipotent cells in sponges?

Archaeocytes are very important to the functioning of a sponge. These cells are totipotent, which means that they can change into all of the other types of sponge cells. Archaeocytes ingest and digest food caught by the choanocyte collars and transport nutrients to the other cells of the sponge.

How do sponges filter?

In order obtain food, sponges pass water through their bodies in a process known as filter-feeding. Water is drawn into the sponge through tiny holes called incurrent pores. As it passes through the channels and chambers inside the sponge, bacteria and tiny particles are taken up from the water as food.

What cell is responsible for filter feeding in sponges?

Food particles are taken in and digested inside the sponge’s cells and the nutrients shared. This type of feeding is called filter feeding. The body of the sponge between this system of canals is a loose assemblage of about six different types of specialized cells.

Why do sponges filter water?

Sponges must pump water through their bodies in order to eat. Because sponges are sessile, meaning they cannot move, they filter water to obtain their food. Filter feeders must filter the water to separate out the organisms and nutrients they want to eat from those they do not.

What kind of cells are found in a sponge?

The collars are composed of microvilli and are used to filter particles out of the water. Hereof, what are the 4 types of cells within a sponge? Calcarea, Hexactinellida, Demospongiae, and Homoscleromorpha make up the four classes of sponges; each type is classified based on the presence or composition of its spicules or spongin.

How are the functions of the Sponge performed?

All other major body functions in the sponge (gas exchange, circulation, excretion) are performed by diffusion between the cells that line the openings within the sponge and the water that is passing through those openings. All cell types within the sponge obtain oxygen from water through diffusion.

How are food particles transported in a sponge?

In some sponges, amoebocytes transport food from cells that have ingested food particles to those that do not. For this type of digestion, in which food particles are digested within individual cells, the sponge draws water through diffusion. The limit of this type of digestion is that food particles must be smaller than individual cells.

What are choanocytes and amoebocytes in a sponge?

Amoebocytes can be found helping with digestion by serving as food delivery drivers. Choanocytes (not an amoebocyte but a different type of cell) are flagellated cells that capture and digest food in sponges. Once inside a food vacuole, amoebocytes pick up and carry the food to other cells in the sponge.