Sponges

=Evie's Sponges: Mini-Skyscrapers under the Microscope....=
 * [[image:P1240694-1.JPG]]

**Evie's collection from the Catlins Coast**
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holes - the filter chambers (oscula)
|| =How does a sponge work?= Source:http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/sponges1.html
 * [[image:sponge_feed.gif]]

Their hard skeletons fossilise well.
|| ======== Source:http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/sponges1.html

base of the flagellum.
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 * ==[[image:sponges2-26.jpg width="348" height="244"]]==

a tangle of tiny pore openings - the ostea.
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the inside of the osculum.
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 * [[image:sponges2-7.jpg width="344" height="250"]]

and give it it's shape.
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hard to eat - it would be like eating splinters of glass!
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 * [[image:sponges-1.jpg width="340" height="257"]] || [[image:sponges2-1.jpg width="353" height="259"]] ||
 * [[image:sponge_spicules.jpg width="340" height="241"]]

algae deep down inside the sponge.
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trigger bubbles of carbon dioxide gas.
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 * [[image:sponges-26.jpg width="336" height="248"]]

Hidden in Evie's green sponge...
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You can see traces of green algae inside.
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