<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
  • Describe the organizational features of the simplest animals
  • Describe the organizational features of cnidarians

The kingdom of animals is informally divided into invertebrate animals, those without a backbone, and vertebrate animals, those with a backbone. Although in general we are most familiar with vertebrate animals, the vast majority of animal species, about 95 percent, are invertebrates. Invertebrates include a huge diversity of animals, millions of species in about 32 phyla, which we can just begin to touch on here.

The sponges and the cnidarians represent the simplest of animals. Sponges appear to represent an early stage of multicellularity in the animal clade. Although they have specialized cells for particular functions, they lack true tissues in which specialized cells are organized into functional groups. Sponges are similar to what might have been the ancestor of animals: colonial, flagellated protists. The cnidarians, or the jellyfish and their kin, are the simplest animal group that displays true tissues, although they possess only two tissue layers.

Sponges

Animals in subkingdom Parazoa represent the simplest animals and include the sponges, or phylum Porifera    ( [link] ). All sponges are aquatic and the majority of species are marine. Sponges live in intimate contact with water, which plays a role in their feeding, gas exchange, and excretion. Much of the body structure of the sponge is dedicated to moving water through the body so it can filter out food, absorb dissolved oxygen, and eliminate wastes.

The photo shows sponges on the ocean floor. The sponges are yellow with a bumpy surface, forming rounded clumps.
Sponges are members of the phylum Porifera, which contains the simplest animals. (credit: Andrew Turner)

The body of the simplest sponges takes the shape of a cylinder with a large central cavity, the spongocoel    . Water enters the spongocoel from numerous pores in the body wall. Water flows out through a large opening called the osculum    ( [link] ). However, sponges exhibit a diversity of body forms, which vary in the size and branching of the spongocoel, the number of osculi, and where the cells that filter food from the water are located.

Sponges consist of an outer layer of flattened cells and an inner layer of cells called choanocytes separated by a jelly-like substance called mesohyl    . The mesohyl contains embedded amoeboid cells that secrete tiny needles called spicules or protein fibers that help give the sponge its structural strength. The cell body of the choanocyte    is embedded in mesohyl but protruding into the spongocoel is a mesh-like collar surrounding a single flagellum. The beating of flagella from all choanocytes moves water through the sponge. Food particles are trapped in mucus produced by the sieve-like collar of the choanocytes and are ingested by phagocytosis. This process is called intracellular digestion    . Amoebocytes take up nutrients repackaged in food vacuoles of the choanocytes and deliver them to other cells within the sponge.

Image of a cross-section of a sponge, which is vase-shaped. The central cavity is called the spongocoel. The body is filled with a gel-like substance called mesohyl. Pores within the body, called ostia, allow water to enter the spongocoel. Water exits through a top opening called an osculum.
The sponge’s basic body plan is shown.

Physiological processes in sponges

Despite their lack of complexity, sponges are clearly successful organisms, having persisted on Earth for more than half a billion years. Lacking a true digestive system, sponges depend on the intracellular digestive processes of their choanocytes for their energy intake. The limit of this type of digestion is that food particles must be smaller than individual cells. Gas exchange, circulation, and excretion occur by diffusion between cells and the water.

Questions & Answers

what Is taxonom
Don Reply
Taxonom is the the laws and principles guiding the classification of living things either plant 🌿 or animal
Samuel
protein synthesis began with what?
Kesselly Reply
What structures does a plant cell have that an animal cell does not hav
Martin Reply
A plant cell has a cell wall, a large central vacuole, and chloroplasts, which an animal cell does not have.
AI-Robot
what is the function of the cytoskeleton?
Martin
truly. Al-robot
Mark
why is it advantageous for the cell membrane to be fluid in nature?
Martin Reply
The fluid nature of the cell membrane allows for flexibility and dynamic changes in its structure. This allows for the movement of molecules and ions in and out of the cell, as well as the ability to respond to external stimuli. The fluidity of the membrane also allows for the formation of specialized structures such as receptor proteins, which are important for cell-cell communication.
AI-Robot
What is used as a visual marker for successful gene transfer into transgenic animals?
rhonda Reply
Parts of the body involved in homeostasis
Favour Reply
liver
Kirk
A collection of similar-typed cells working together to perform a specific function is called what?
Rachel Reply
tissue
Van
which structure consists of a phospholipid bilayers and it is known as the mosaic model?
Jamar Reply
cell membrane
Abanoub
what is diffusion
Patricia Reply
a passive process of transport
Jamar
Random movement of gas molecule from region of high concentration to a low concentration.
praise
10 difference between male and female reproductive system
Ina Reply
if a phase is omitted ,what will happen to the cell
Ewemoje Reply
discribe advantages and disadvantages of asexual and sexual reproduction
basi Reply
Compared to separate sexes and assuming self-fertilizing is not possible, what might be one advantage and one disadvantage to hermaphroditism?
Gift Reply
is nature of their environment among
basi
cool 😎
Precious
why are the laws of thermodynamics considered laws of nature and not scientific theories
Yolonda Reply
archea were given their own separate domain because they are?
Yolonda
which of the following is a basic component of all of the others?
Yolonda
which of the following organization levels is the least inclusive
Yolonda
which cell feature is absent in bacterial cells
Yolonda
which metric movies the base unit of measurement by one thousandth (0.001)?
Yolonda
What is biology?
Blessing Reply
List the branches of biology
Blessing
List the branches of biology
Blessing
List the branches of biology
Blessing
List the branches of biology
Blessing
Ecology,Anatomy,genetics,biophysics,biochemistry,microbiology and biotechnology.
praise

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, Concepts of biology. OpenStax CNX. Feb 29, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11487/1.9
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'Concepts of biology' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask