Here I present:《BARREL SPONGE》, Jacques Cousteau, The Silent World’, 1953. CONTINUED.
INTRODUCTION.
Jacques Cousteau was an undersea diver, and The Silent World’, 1953 was the book that made him famous. A diver in the image ABOVE is with a giant barrel sponge (Xestospongia muta), in demonstration of sponge filter-feeding process in a marine environment. Sponges are animals, not plants.
Sponges feed, breathe, reproduce, and excrete by pumping water through their bodies.
They are covered with tiny pores called ostia, which lead internally to a system of canals and eventually out to one or more larger holes called oscula.
In the image, a non-toxic green dye has been injected near the base of the sponge, which is then expelled in a concentrated stream from the large opening (osculum) at the top, visually demonstrating the powerful water-pumping flow.
Giant barrel sponges are a common sight on Caribbean reefs and can live to be over 2,000 years old.
