Invertebrates
Glass Sponge
Hexactinellida · also called glass sponges
Spinning silica into a delicate, glass-like lattice, a glass sponge can live for over ten thousand years, quietly building reef structures on the deep seafloor that support entire communities of other deep-sea life.
Overview
The glass sponge, class Hexactinellida, is a filter-feeding invertebrate native to deep, cold ocean habitat spanning the world’s major ocean basins. Its extraordinary silica-based skeleton, potential lifespan measured in millennia, and role as a deep-sea reef builder make it one of the most biologically remarkable and ecologically important invertebrate groups found anywhere in the ocean.
A structure built to outlast civilizations
Few living things on Earth approach the sheer age some glass sponges are believed to reach, with individual colonies potentially having begun growing before many of history’s oldest human civilizations existed, all while remaining as fragile as the glass their skeleton resembles.
Status
Vulnerable, with reefs damaged in many areas by bottom trawling and recovery expected to take centuries or longer given the class’s extremely slow growth.
Glass Sponge: common questions
What is the glass sponge's skeleton made of?
This class builds its skeleton from silica spun into thin, glass-like spicules that fuse together into a rigid, lattice-like structure, a feature that gives the group its common name.
How old can a glass sponge get?
This class includes individuals estimated to be over ten thousand years old, making glass sponges among the longest-lived animals known to science, far exceeding the lifespan of most other marine organisms.
Why are glass sponge reefs ecologically important?
This class can form extensive reef structures on the deep seafloor, creating complex three-dimensional habitat used by many other deep-sea species, similar to the ecological role played by tropical and cold-water corals.
Why is bottom trawling so damaging to glass sponges?
This class has a brittle, glass-like skeletal structure that can be destroyed easily by physical disturbance, and because it grows so slowly, damaged reefs can take centuries or longer to recover, if they recover at all.