Sponges

Choia ridleyi


Choia, though rare, looked very much like a modern day sea urchin. The needle-like spicules projecting from its body were used to stabilize itself on the sea-floor. The colonial Choia fed by utilizing feeding cells to extract nutrients from the water.












Vauxia gracilenta


Vauxia, a branching sponge, was the most abundant species that Charles Walcott collected. Each branch was comprised of a network of strands. Vauxia also had a skeleton of spongin (flexible organic material) common to modern day sponges. Much like Choia and other sponges, Vauxia fed by extracting nutrients from the water.


























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