Admin Are sponges primary consumers?
The primary consumers are zooplankton, corals, sponges, Atlantic blue tang, and queen conch. What are the intermediate consumers in the coral reef food web illustration?
Is a sea sponge a decomposer?
A decomposer, such as a sponge, helps in breaking down dead organisms in the coral reef.
What role does the sea sponge have in the food chain?
Sponges can remove up to 95% of bacteria and particles from the water (POM) and 90% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), thereby converting suspended particles and dissolved matter into food for other animals. Up to 97% of the diet can be dissolved matter.
What do sea sponges eat?
plankton
Sponges are mostly filter feeders and they eat detritus, plankton, viruses and bacteria. They also absorb dissolved nutrients directly from the water through their pinacocyte cells; each cell is responsible for getting their own food!
What type of consumer is a sea sponge?
The Phytoplankton is consumed by Zooplankton, a primary consumer. The Zooplankton is then consumed by some secondary consumers: the Fan Worm, the Blue Chromis, the Sea Sponge the Coral Polyps.
How are sponges used commercially?
Sea sponges are produced on a commercial scale to be used as bath sponges or to extract biologically active compounds which are found in certain sponge species. Techniques such as the rope and mesh bag method are used to culture sponges independently or within an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture system setting.
What are the sponges which are commercially important?
The Demospongiae is the largest class and all species of some commercial value belong to this group. The commercial sponge is the macerated and dried skeleton of a sponge. The commercial value of the sponges comes from their great internal surface, thus they can absorb water up to 20 – 35 times their weight.
Is a sea sponge alive?
Sea sponges are one of the world’s simplest multi-cellular living organisms. Yes, sea sponges are considered animals not plants. But they grow, reproduce and survive much as plants do. Sea sponges are one of the world’s simplest multi-cellular living organisms.
What are ocean producers?
The primary producers of the ocean are microscopic phytoplankton, including protists like algae and diatoms. The majority of marine consumers are planktonic, including protists and small animals. Kelp is algae (seaweed) that grows along many coastlines and appears like an underwater forest.