Xestospongia+muta+(Barrel+Sponges)

__**Phylogenetics: **__ **Domain:** //[|Eukaryota]//
 * **Kingdom:** //[|Animalia]//
 * **Subkingdom:** //[|Radiata]//
 * **Infrakingdom:** //[|Spongiaria]//
 * **Phylum:** //[|Porifera]//
 * **Subphylum:** //[|Cellularia]//
 * **Class:** //[|Demospongiae]//
 * **Subclass:** //[|Ceractinomorpha]//
 * **Order:** //[|Haplosclerida]//
 * **Suborder:** //[|Petrosina]//
 * **Family:** //[|Petrosiidae]//
 * **Genus:** //[|Xestospongia]//
 * **Specific name:** //testudinaria//
 * **Scientific name:** - //Xestospongia testudinaria//

__**Adaptations: **__<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Sponges have very dense skeletons and they can adapt themselves to the environment. Their skeleton type can allow them to live in different places like soft or hard sedimeants. Another adaptation is they can give off poison to protect them. they can also blend into different types of coral or environments. Sponges can live in either fresh water or salt water or known as the marine water. Sponges are able to grow into a new individual from the smallest piece of the original body through a process called budding. Most sponges consist of an outer wall dotted with lots of pores (ostia) of different sizes. This allows the free passage of water into the central part of the body, the atrium or spongocoel.

__**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;">Life History: **__<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Almost all sponges are hermaphrodites. Some sponges release sperm cells that randomly float to another sponge with the water current. If a sperm cell is caught by another sponge, then fertilization of an egg takes place inside the sponge. The egg becomes larva which use cilia to swim. The larva settles on the sea floor and becomes an adult. Asexual reproduction can occur through a process called budding. In budding, a small piece of the organism breaks away from the parent sponge and begins to grow in a new location.

__**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;">Niches **__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;"> __** ﻿﻿ Importance to humans: ﻿﻿ **__ <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Sponges are very important to fish in the sea. They create homes for fish against predators and for small organisms. Sponges keep the sea running and we use the sea a lot and we eat a lot of fish. That is why sponges are important to humans. We also use sponges in cleaning. We use them to scrub our skin or scrub our cars! Also recent studies shows that sponges might be able to be used in medicine which could possibly help us in the future!
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Diet: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Sponges are filter feeders. Most sponges eat tiny, floating organic particles and plankton that they filter from the water the flows through their body. Food is collected in specialized cells called choanocytes and brought to other cells by amoebocytes.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;">__**Human Impact:**__ <span style="color: #ff0000; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: center;">**Remember don't destroy by sitting in barrel sponges or doing the other destructive things listed below:-** <span style="color: #000066; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**//-Never stand, sit or rest on living coral. Despite having hard skeletons, part or all of the colony may die from infection if the delicate outer soft tissues are injured. - If you are diving or snorkelling, and need to steady yourself, use your fingertips on bare rock and leave your gloves behind. - Don't touch, move or molest animals for amusement or photography. - When in a boat be watchful of reefs when anchoring. Polaroid sunglasses make it easier to pick out seabed features. Find a sand or rubble patch and then drop anchor.//**

__**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;">Reference: **__ >> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">**By: Tiffany Williamson & Brad Bramlett**
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;">Pictures
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">First: thestickytongue.org
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Sperm Spong: []
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Third: scuba.about.com
 * Human Impact: []
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;">Info
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Adaptations, Life History, & Importance to humans: http://7salemanimalkingdom.wikispaces.com/Sponges
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Niches: []
 * Phylogenetic: []
 * Human Impact: []