Sponges vary in shape, color and size. Most sponges live in warm and tropical waters. Sponges are treasures for bathing and cleaning. Sponges can reproduce both sexually and asexually. A small sponge can be 1 inch, while a giant sponge can be 4 feet in diameter.
Water flows into the bottom of the sponge and out the top.
Tiny plants and animals are brought into the sponge with the flowing water and these become the food it eats. When a sponge is processed and dried for commercial use, it is only the skeleton that remains. When a sponge is harvested doff the ocean floor, the remaining few sponge cells regenerate and grow a new sponge in the same place. The one exception is the white Glass Sponge because it has a silica skeleton which forms a beautiful geometric pattern. Within the closed cylinder of the sponge there usually is to be found a pair of shrimp, male and female.