Calcispongiae (all living on the ocean floor) are distinguished from the other Spongiae by depositing needles of carbonic lime in their tissue. The simplest forms of this class are small vesicles (Olynthus) similar to a Gastraea; usually they build small colonies or Korma that are composed of numerous such vesicle-shaped personae.
Outer form and inner structure of the Calcispongiae is often most delicate; most often the size amounts to a few millimeter only, at most several centimeter. The species, presented on this table slightly enlarged, belong to two different orders, Ascona and Sycona. Ascona (tubular Calcispongiae, fig. 1-3) are thin-walled tubes with porous walls, supported by three- or four-jetted (rarely simple) lime needles.
At times Ascona live isolated, as single persona (Olynthus, similar fig. 10); at times they form delicate colonies or Korma, in shrub-like compositions of many personae (fig. 1-3).
Sycones (strobulous or cone-shaped Calcispongiae, fig. 4-13) are thick-walled bodies, composed of many Ascona-personae that are arranged regularly around the central pit of the stomach of the mother animal, similar to the flower buds around a fir cone (fig. 8,13).
In all Calcispongiae seawater enters with the food through fine pores in the surface (fig. 10), and passes out through a bigger outlet (Osculum).
Translation of the original German introduction by Ernst Haeckel:
Phylum of Spongiae; - subclass of Calcispongiae.
Translation by VR Translators Bangalore
This is one of the 100 pop science biology illustrations that were published from 1899 – 1904 in Leipzig by Ernst Haeckel through Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts.
We've scanned the original lithography at 1200dpi on the Epson A3 scanner of A3 scanner huren. You can download a 400dpi JPEG here.