A seemingly simple marine animal clears particles from its tubes with sneeze-like contractions.
A sponge expels debris from inlets on its surface. The debris then travels along ‘mucus highways’ to form concentrated deposits, which the sponge ‘sneezes’ away. Credit: Daniel Stoupin/BioQuest
Sea sponges are renowned filter feeders, straining tens of thousands of litres of water through their bodies every day to collect food. But they can also ingest particles that clog their internal filter systems, and they have been known to ‘sneeze’ to rid themselves of this accumulated mucus.
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