Animals (Metazoa)
	The following reports (please click on the small images below) deal with small animals of the meiofauna from different aquatic regions.

	Observations on Freshwater Sponges
	Sponges are primitive, simply structured animals, they have no real organs. The rocks show that they have existed for a very long time: Their fossils were found in strata at least 700 million years old. The group is species-rich (over 8,000) and can be found in the seas, but also in freshwater. Sponges belong to the phylum Porifera, a basic branch in the evolutionary tree of animals.
	Studies on Freshwater Sponges
	© Wolfgang Bettighofer 2023