Due to the physical structure of the choanocyte chambers and oscular chimneys, water can passively flow through the sponge without the choanocytes actively pumping. |
Sponge choanocytes also have a flagellum and possess a collar of filaments for trapping food. |
In sexual reproduction, spermatocytes develop from the transformation of choanocytes, and oocytes arise from archeocytes. |
The choanocyte then transforms into an amoeba-shaped cell called a carrier cell, which gives up the spermatozoan to an egg, lying near a chamber formed by choanocytes and containing long lashlike appendages called flagella. |
The body structure is characterized by a stalk-like spongocoel surrounded by a single layer of choanocytes. |
The velocity of the excurrent stream through the osculum may be several hundred times that at the level of the choanocytes. |