Venus+Flower+Basket

**Common Name:** Venus Flower Basket Sponge
 * Phylum: Porifera **

**Scientific Name:** Euplectella aspergillum

**Class:** Hexactinellida

**Location:** found in the waters of the East Indies and the eastern coast of Asia


 * Size ** **:** curved tube about 25 cm (10 inches) long

**Habitat:** Euplectella aspergillum are marine animals found at depths of between 10 and 1000 metres where the water is very cold (2-11o C) and has high levels of dissolved silica

**Living Requirements:** Living in deep marine waters where the water is very cold

**Life Cycle:** Pieces of sponge are able to regenerate into whole new sponges. Asexual reproduction occurs by budding or by fragmentation. The buds may remain attached to the parent or separate from it, and each bud develops into a new individual. Most sponges are hermaphroditic, the same individual producing eggs and sperm, but in some species the sexes are separate. The larvae are flagellated and swim about freely for a short time. After settling and attaching to a suitable substrate, the larvae develop into young sponges.

**Male and Female Differences:** Sponges are hermaphroditic


 * Interesting Facts: **
 * Sponges lack organs and tissue
 * The name Venus’s flower basket derives from the sponges’ delicate, white, latticelike skeletons made of silica
 * Venus’s flower basket (Euplectella), whose beautiful lattice-like skeleton was highly prized as a collector’s item in Victorian times.

**Human Impact:** Has no human impact

Zookeeper: Hannah Jones []  []   []