Venus' flower basket | |
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Group of Venus' flower baskets | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Porifera |
Class: | Hexactinellida |
Order: | Lyssacinosida |
Family: | Euplectellidae |
Genus: | Euplectella |
Species: | E. aspergillum
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Binomial name | |
Euplectella aspergillum Owen, 1841
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The Venus' flower basket (Euplectella aspergillum) is a glass sponge in the phylum Porifera. It is a marine sponge found in the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean, usually at depths below 500 m (1,600 ft). Like other sponges, they feed by filtering sea water to capture plankton and marine snow.[1] Similar to other glass sponges, they build their skeletons out of silica, which forms a unique lattice structure of spicules. The sponges are usually between 10 cm (3.9 in) and 30 cm (12 in) tall, and their bodies act as refuge for their mutualist shrimp partners. This body structure is of great interest in materials science as the optical[2] and mechanical[3] properties are in some ways superior to man-made materials. Little is known regarding their reproduction habits, however fluid dynamics of their body structure likely influence reproduction and it is hypothesized that they may be hermaphroditic.[4]
Soares
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