Sponges such as Sycon ciliatum are sometimes eaten by nudibranchs, chitons, sea stars, turtles, and some fish.
2000 years ago, sponges were considered plants. Aristotle was the first person to recognize the animal nature of sponges. However, it was not until a little over 200 years ago that the idea of sponges being animals was widely accepted.
Like all marine life, Sycon ciliatum are affected by water pollution, temperature changes, and changes in water levels.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
This species does not affect humans in a negative manner.
While not reported specifically for Sycon ciliatum, some species of sponges produce toxins that inhibit the growth of surrounding individuals. These toxins are the topic of important research on nerve impulse transmission. Other sponges contain varieties of antibiotic substances and pigments that are important for medicinal purposes.
Sycon ciliatum obtain food by filtering water through choanocytes. Water enters the incurrent canal. The canal is lined with pinacocytes and communicates with the flagellated chambers through small holes, the propsopyles, which open into an internal flagellated tube lined with choanocytes. Food particles are digested intracellularly. Nutrients are transported from choanocytes to other cells through amoeboids in the mesohyl.
Animal Foods: zooplankton
Plant Foods: algae
Other Foods: detritus ; microbes
Foraging Behavior: filter-feeding
Primary Diet: herbivore (Algivore); planktivore ; detritivore
Sycon ciliatum are marine sponges found world-wide, usually in shallow water, but rarely more than 150 meters deep. They are predominant in temperate regions.
Biogeographic Regions: arctic ocean (Native ); indian ocean (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native ); pacific ocean (Native ); mediterranean sea (Native )
Sycon ciliatum live in shallow marine waters, from the intertidal zone out into sublittoral depths. They are found on the underside of rocks in relatively protected areas among bryozoans, hydroids, and other organisms.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; saltwater or marine
Aquatic Biomes: benthic ; reef ; coastal
Other Habitat Features: intertidal or littoral
Sycon ciliata are creamy yellow in color and delicate-looking. Their bodies are arranged in the asconoid system, which is a simple tube with no folding of the outer body wall. They range from 1-3cm in height. Hairy, needle-like spines (called spicules) cover their bodies. The spicules surrounding the osculum opening are longer than those at the base of the body. Y-shaped tetraxon calcite spicules lining the spongocoel and triactine spiclules in the walls of the flagellated chambers form the supporting skeleton of the sponge. The spicules appear to lie in a jelly called mesohyl, a structureless jelly containing archaocytes, amoeboid cells, and others.
Internal flagellated tubes are responsible for water current. The tubes are arranged radially and have openings call apopyles. Apopyles open into a central cavity or the spongocoel. The spongocoel leads into the osculum, which has an adjustable diaphragm. The diaphragm is surrounded by large spicules.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic
Reproduction occurs mainly sexually. The formation of female gametes occurs from choanocytes. Spermatogenesis occurs in spermatic cysts which form in the mesohyl. These cysts can form when cells of the choanocyte chamber are transformed to spermatogonia through withdrawl of their flagellum and mitosis. Sperm are released into the sea through the osculum. Choanocytes of another sponge trap sperm and retain it in a vacuole. The choanocyte then looses its collar and flagellum. The cell is now called a carrier cell. This cell migrates through the mesohyl to an ovum. The carrier cell enters the cytoplasm of the ovum.
Development of the larva takes place within the parent sponge. The parent sponge nourishes the blastula by means of trophic cells that pass into the blastula. The blastula then turns inside out so the flagella project outwards. Once the amphiblastula with a hollow central cavity, the larvae is set free to swim in the sea. Once the larvae settles, the flagella are withdrawn and the cells form a central mass. A pupae is formed when the external cells flatten and serete spicules. A cavity forms that will be the first flagellated chamber and then the spongocoel. Once this cavity forms, the sponge begins to take on the shape of a cylinder.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; simultaneous hermaphrodite; sexual ; fertilization (Internal )
Sycon ciliatum is a species of calcareous sponge belonging to the family Sycettidae.
This small purse sponge grows singly or in small groups from a single holdfast. It is up to five centimetres long, fairly stiff, greyish-white and spindle-shaped. The osculum at the tip is fringed with fine spicules.[2] The surface of the sponge appears furry from its covering of fine papillae. The skeleton consists of a tangential layer of triactines and another of tetractines. This species can be distinguished from the rather similar Sycon raphanus by the fact that the choanocyte chambers are not fused but are free from each other.[3]
Sycon ciliatum is common along the coasts of Europe and occurs on the eastern fringes of the Atlantic Ocean from Scandinavia south to Portugal.[3] It is found low down on the shore and in the neritic zone, amongst seaweed, under stones or in rock pools in areas without strong wave action.[2]
Sycon ciliatum is a species of calcareous sponge belonging to the family Sycettidae.
