Xestosponga muta or barrel sponge is found in tropical areas such as the Caribbean. The barrel sponge feeds by taking in water and other particles and if any of those particles are food the barrel sponge then consumes the particles. The sponge has to do this constantly to get enough food to survive. This sponge is constantly growing and that is why it is also called the red wood of the deep they can grow huge the size of cars and they live up to be about 100 years old.

 

A barrel sponge is an empty tube made of silicon or lime. A sponge does not have a brain. This sponge can reproduce asexually or sexually. A sponge can be black, white, purple, red, brown, orange, yellow, and green. A barrel sponge belongs to the phylum Porifera and is an invertebrate, meaning that they have no backbone.

 

Sponges don’t move around they are stationary and stay in one place there whole life. Except when the sponge reproduces it starts to grow a bud and then eventually detach itself from the sponge.

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Author: Daniel H

Published: 02/2008

 

Sources:

Some information was found on Google under: barrel sponge

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Photo Credit: http://noaa.ocean.com/Parks/SpeciesCard.aspx?pID=8&refID=4&CreatureID=675