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Spongilla
	Spongilla lacustris in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River, Washington, USA.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Porifera
Class:	Demospongiae
Order:	Spongillida
Family:	Spongillidae
Genus:	Spongilla; Lamarck, 1816
Species
	See text
Synonyms
	Crelloxea Hechtel, 1983; Euspongilla Vejdovsky, 1883; Spongilla (Euspongilla) Vejdovsky, 1883;

Spongilla is a genus of freshwater sponges containing over 200 different species. Spongilla was first publicly recognized in 1696 by Leonard Plukenet and can be found in lakes, ponds and slow streams.^[2]Spongilla have a leuconoid body form with a skeleton composed of siliceous spicules. They are sessile organisms, attaching themselves to hard substrate like rocks, logs and sometimes to ground.^[3] Using their ostia and osculum these sponges filter the water for various small aquatic organisms such as protozoans, bacteria, and other free-floating pond life.^[4] Sponges of the genus Spongilla partake in symbiotic relationships with green algae, zoochlorellae. The symbiotic zoochlorellae give the sponges a green appearance and without them they would appear white.^[4]

Spongilla was used by John Hogg in the 19th century to attempt to justify a fourth kingdom of life.^[5]

Reproduction

Sponges are hermaphrodites, producing both egg and sperm. Sperm is released from one sponge and brought in through the ostia of another sponge. Once the sperm reaches the body cavity it is fertilized and develops into a free-swimming larvae. The free-swimming larvae are released out the osculum and will eventually settle and attach elsewhere.^[6] Since the larvae are developed inside the spongilla it is viviparous.

Unlike marine sponges, freshwater sponges are exposed to far more variable environmental conditions, so they have developed gemmules as an overwintering mechanism. When exposed to excessively cold or other harsh conditions, the sponges form gemmules. Gemmules are highly resistant buds that can live dormant for extended periods of time. When conditions improve, the gemmules "germinate" and a new sponge is born.

Species

Spongilla alba Carter, 1849
Spongilla arctica Annandale, 1915
Spongilla cenota Penney & Racek, 1968
Spongilla chaohuensis Cheng, 1991
Spongilla gutenbergiana Müller, Zahn & Maidhof, 1982
Spongilla helvetica Annandale, 1909
Spongilla jiujiangensis Cheng, 1991
Spongilla lacustris Linnaeus, 1758
Spongilla mucronata Topsent, 1932
Spongilla permixta Weltner, 1895
Spongilla prespensis Hadzische, 1953
Spongilla sarasinorum Weltner, 1901
Spongilla shikaribensis Sasaki, 1934
Spongilla stankovici Arndt, 1938
Spongilla wagneri Potts, 1889

References

Footnotes

^ van Soest, R. (2014). Van Soest RW, Boury-Esnault N, Hooper JN, Rützler K, de Voogd NJ, de Glasby BA, Hajdu E, Pisera AB, Manconi R, Schoenberg C, Janussen D, Tabachnick KR, Klautau M, Picton B, Kelly M, Vacelet J (eds.). "Spongilla Lamarck, 1816". World Porifera database. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
^ Gunther, A (1881). The Annals and Magazine of natural history, zoology, botany, and geology. London Taylor and Francis, Ltd.
^ Brusca, Richard C. (2016). Invertebrates (3rd ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates. p. 222. ISBN 9781605353753.
^ ^a ^b Skelton, J; Strand, M (2013). "Trophic ecology of a freshwater sponge ( Spongilla lacustris) revealed by stable isotope analysis". Hydrobiologia. 709 (1): 227–235. doi:10.1007/s10750-013-1452-6 – via ECBHost.
^ Hogg, John (1860), "On the distinctions of a plant and an animal and on a fourth kingdom of Nature", Edinb N Phil J (N Ser), 12: 216–225
^ Baldacconi, R.; Nonnis-Marzano, C.; Gaino, E.; Corriero, G. (2007-09-15). "Sexual reproduction, larval development and release in Spongia officinalis L. (Porifera, Demospongiae) from the Apulian coast". Marine Biology. 152 (4): 969–979. doi:10.1007/s00227-007-0747-4.