Stovepipe sponges

First of all, sponges are animals. They are nourished by filtering food and oxygen out of the water that passes through them. The water goes into the sponge through many small in-current pores, and exits the sponge through large ex-current openings.

Bonaire has an incredible variety of sponges, of various shapes and colors.  Stovepipe sponges are tube sponges that resemble stovepipes. Water flows in through the pores in the sides (see below), and out via the stovepipe.  Cleaning gobies often live inside them.

They are generally quite symmetrical, as you might expect.

But every once in a while, we find stovepipe sponges that seem to have lost their direction, as below.