A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
1469 entries
glass sponge
A glass sponge builds its skeleton out of silica, laying down needles of glass and fusing them into a rigid lattice. The result is a structure of extraordinary lightness and strength, and in some species a clear one. They live mostly in deep cold water, filter feed, grow slowly, and can be very old. Some are estimated at several thousand years, which would make them among the longest-lived animals known.
Etymology
The English name is exactly what it is, and it is a rare case where a common name describes the chemistry rather than the appearance. The Latin for the group means six-rayed, from the shape of the individual glass needles, each of which has spines at right angles in three axes.