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Encyclopedia > Venus flower basket
Venus' Flower Basket
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Porifera
Class: Hyalospongi
Family: Euplectellidae
Genus: Euplectella
Species: E. aspergillum
Binomial name
Euplectella aspergillum

The Venus' Flower Basket, or Euplectella aspergillum, is the only Poriferan in the class Hexactenellida to be used in hobbyists' aquariums. This is due to the fact that Hexactinellid sponges are mainly deep ocean sponges that are not suitable for domestic aquarium environments. In traditional Asian cultures, this particular sponge was given as a wedding gift due to the fact that certain bioluminescent shrimp tend to symbolize them. The sponge houses two small shrimp, a male and a female, who live out their lives inside the sponge. They breed, and when their offspring are tiny, the offspring escape to find a Venus Flower Basket of their own. The shrimp inside of the basket clean it, and in return, the basket provides food for the shrimp by trapping it in its fiberglass-like strands, and then releasing it into the body of the sponge for the shrimp. It is also speculated that the light given off by the shrimp may attract other small organisms which the shrimp eat. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria Placozoa Subregnum Bilateria  Acoelomorpha  Orthonectida  Rhombozoa  Myxozoa  Superphylum Deuterostomia     Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... This article is about the animal. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... Hexactinellid sponges are sponges with a skeleton made of four and/or six pointed silaceous spicules. ... There is also a Russian band named Aquarium, and Aquarium is the name of an album by the Danish pop-dance group Aqua A 335,000 US gallon (1. ... Hexactinellid sponges are sponges with a skeleton made of four and/or six pointed silaceous spicules. ... This article is about the animal. ... World map showing location of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of the continent of Eurasia, defined by subtracting the European peninsula from Eurasia. ... Bioluminescence is the production and emission of visible light by a living organism as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted to light energy. ...


The glassy fibers that attach the sponge to the ocean floor, 5-20 cm long and thin as human hair, are of interest to fiber optics researchers. They hope to learn how this sponge produces these flexible fibers. The current manufacturing process for optical fibers requires high temperatures and produces a brittle fiber. A low-temperature process could offer more control over the optical properties of the fibers. Fiber Optic strands An optical fiber in American English or fibre in British English is a transparent thin fiber for transmitting light. ...


Referencess

  • [1] "Glassy sponge has better fiber optics than man-made", William McCall, AP, August 20, 2003


 

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