Not every person has heard of such an animal as a freshwater sponge bugs. It is quite understandable that it does not differ in interesting features, and indeed, many people who see it are often confused with algae. So to fill this knowledge gap will not be superfluous.
Appearance
As already mentioned above, the appearance of the sponge of a badyagi is very reminiscent of some not too attractive algae. Most of all, it resembles a small bush, consisting of irregular tree-like processes. In warm water and with good nutrition, their length can reach a meter!
You can see them on many underwater objects - starting from snags and large stones, ending with bridge piers and ship bottoms.
The color scheme is quite extensive. A sponge can have a green color, brown, yellowish and even gray - this largely depends on the composition of the water and the type of bottom where it lives.
Area
You can meet a badyaga sponge in almost any freshwater pond - from harsh subarctic regions to the equator. It inhabits rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and small swamps, preferring to live at a relatively shallow depth, well heated and shined by the sun. Seeing one sponge, you can be sure that there will be many others nearby - they almost always live in colonies, and when they are moved to a new place, they multiply fairly quickly, occupying fairly vast spaces.
Moreover, the sponge is quite picky about water quality. In too dirty reservoirs or in those into which water with industrial waste is discharged, it dies quite quickly. Therefore, it can be said with confidence that the presence of a bug in a pond is a good sign, indicating that the water in it is clean and safe.
She lives in our country. More precisely, even as many as twenty types of sponge sponge live! Among them is a completely unique Baikal. It has a stiffer skeleton.
Structure
As you can see in the photo attached to the article, the sponge of a badyaga most closely resembles a cluster of individual elongated processes. The base is a skeleton consisting of tiny silica needles (they are also known as spicules) and spongina - a special kind of protein.
Unicellular algae, with which the sponge lives in dense symbiosis, give the animal a special color. Algae occupy any voids in the skeleton, and also cover the entire surface of the sponge. They, as befits green algae, produce oxygen in the light, which the badyaga consumes, like any living organism. Instead, algae get the necessary carbon dioxide, which is not always enough in the water.
The sponge is rough to the touch, and if you press on it too hard or rub a small piece between your fingers, you can feel subtle injections that will lead to slight inflammation. This happens due to microscopic damage to the skin with spicules. Also, it is easy to feel the unusual smell of pickles.
Lifestyle
If, while studying the structure of the sponge of a bug, you take a closer look at it, then you will notice that almost all of its body is pierced by the thinnest chambers and channels. Water passes through them. A weak but sufficient flow is ensured by special flagella covering the walls of these chambers. These flagella with rhythmic movements drive water through the body, and at the same time catch any particles suitable for digestion. Then the captured food is transmitted to special amoeba-like cells, which digest.
Thus, the bug is a biofilter organism that purifies water from biological debris. Even a small shoot about 10 centimeters high drives about twenty liters of water through itself per day, ensuring the purity of the reservoir.
Life cycle
In warm regions, where even in winter the temperature does not drop for a long time below a certain point, the bugs live all year round and successfully breed. Moreover, in this case, sexual reproduction is mainly used.
The situation is completely different in countries with more severe climates, for example, in Russia. Here the badyaga lives only a few months. After the water in the reservoirs warmed up to the optimum temperature, tiny gemmules are activated. They are kidneys with a diameter of about one millimeter. The spherical body is protected by a durable silica shell, which provides it with reliable protection against any hostile organisms, as well as from adverse environmental conditions. Even if a cell is frozen in ice, it does not die. The same happens when the reservoirs dry out - the gemula survives in the most difficult conditions, at low humidity and in a wide temperature range, for several years. Quite often they are transported over long distances - by waterfowl, and when the reservoir is completely dry - by a strong wind.
In the spring, the shell disintegrates, and a tiny sponge appears from the gemmula, which selects a suitable place, fixes on it and begins to actively eat, growing quite quickly.
With the approaching cold season and a drop in water temperature, the adult gadfly dies, leaving behind a lot of gemmules that will hatch in the spring, and the whole cycle will repeat.
Benefit and harm
Of course, one of the main useful properties of the badyagi is filtration, which was mentioned earlier. Due to the fact that the sponge is a biological filter, in a pond where there are enough of them, the water is always cleaner - not only unicellular microorganisms are destroyed, but also particles of dead animals and fish that rot and pollute the environment.
We will tell about the use by a person and about what benefit a sponge brings to him a bit later - this topic is very extensive.
However, this amazing animal can bring tangible harm. For example, if a tiny gemmula somehow passes through a filtration system and enters a sewer, then it grows quite quickly here - the water is warm enough, and there are more than enough nutrient particles. As a result, it may well clog the entire pipe. Moreover, it is rarely possible to eliminate the blockage by conventional means - specialists have to look for where the sponge is, and eliminate it, which takes a lot of time and effort.
Human use
Dried and carefully crushed badady is used for grinding with rheumatism and other diseases. Slight inflammation of the skin leads to heating of the muscles and, as a result, a decrease in pain. In addition, ointments are made from a sponge, which allow you to get rid of hematomas.
In the old days, women often used powder from a vagabond to induce a blush. After rubbing, the cheeks were slightly inflamed and acquired a reddish tint, which is easily confused with a healthy rosy. What sacrifices only women do not have to make for the sake of beauty!
Local residents use the Baikal badiag when cleaning various metal surfaces instead of an iron brush.
For a while, Russia even successfully exported a sponge to some European countries, for example, Germany.
