Spicule
From Free net encyclopedia
(Redirected from Spicules)
- This article is about the skeletal structure. See also Spicule (solar physics).
Spicules are skeletal structures that appear in some types of sponges. They are made of either calcium carbonate or silica. When many are seen together, Poriferan spicules tend to look like a tightly woven mesh of stars, each having between three and six rays. Spicules are sliver-like structures that come in all sorts of shapes. They give the sponge both structure and shape. Not all sponges have spicules. Commercial sponges have proteinaceous spicules.