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Spongin

Spongin is a protein critical to the structure of sponges and demosponges in the phylum Porifera. Spongin forms a sort of skeleton for sponges, shaping spicules that consist of sponging fiber which allow the free flow of nutrients into sponges while providing support for the sponge.

90% of all sponges, including every large sponge, use sponging as a major component. Because it is a protein, sponging does not fossilize well; the few fossils we have of prehistoric sponges formed through sheer luck.

Spongin forms an endoskeleton for sponges. This allows the sponge to retain structure and shape, while still having some mobility. Other substances that form exoskeletons for poriferans include calcium and silicon.

Because of its unique qualities, spongin is valuable in medical and dermatological treatments. For millennia, sponge divers in the Mediterranean have gone into remarkably deep waters to harvest sponges on the bottom of the sea.

Web Resources On Spongin

Porifera: Skeletons
The structure of a sponge

Book Resources On Spongin

New Perspectives in Sponge Biology by Klaus Rutzler (Editor)
The Cell Biology of Sponges by Tracy L. Simpson

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