Question

'Venus Flower Basket' is the name of
(a)Leucosolenia
(b)Euplectella
(c)Euspongia
(d)Sycon

Answer 1

Hint: Venus flower basket is in phylum Porifera. It is a marine glass sponge found in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The skeleton of the Venus flower basket is made up of silica and depends on phytoplankton for their food source.

Complete answer:
The scientific name of Euplectella aspergillum and other options in the question are Leucosolenia, Euspongia, and Sycon are called as Branching Ball sponge, bath sponge, and crown sponge respectively. In the deep ocean, the Venus flower basket forms a mutualistic relationship with shrimp, where the venus flower basket provides shelter for the shrimp.

Additional Information: -Euplectella aspergillum or venus flower baskets are commonly found in a small community around Japan and the Philippines island, some rare species are found in the Western Indian Ocean too.
-The body of the Venus flower basket is curved and looks like a tubular flower basket and consists of triaxon spicules. The perforated body helps in collecting free-roaming phytoplankton.
-Presence of microscopic spicules (tiny pointed structures) provides structural support to the glass sponges. These spicules are woven in a particular form to provide rigidity to the Venus flower basket's body.
So, the correct answer is 'Euplectella'

Note: -The silica body of the Venus flower basket is by extracting silica acid from the seawater and transforming it into silica. Other species such as Tethya aurantium are also known to produce a glass-like body by the biological method.
-Optic fiber researches are highly interested in the glassy fibers that the sponges make. They are inspired by the low-temperature process of a venus flower basket, where current optic fiber manufacturing requires high temperature.
-These sponges are non-motile and found attached to the bottom surface of the ocean floor with a length of 6 to 22 cm.