Natural sea sponge is an ANIMAL!

[doola]

I always thought that was a plant, but came to find out that sea sponge (http://www.miskis.co.uk/item.asp?code=KSU4&src=google&pr=KorresK&cr=nss) is actually an animal!!! :eek: Did you all know that?

Loofah, on the other hand, is a plant. Not that I use any of those, but thought it might be interesting from a veg*an point of view.

LINK (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/ocean/03_oceanlife/c2_algae.php)

[kpickell]

Yeah, I know it's animal. But it has no brain or nervous system or feelings thoughts or emotions.

[Strix]

I always thought that was a plant, but came to find out that sea sponge (http://www.miskis.co.uk/item.asp?code=KSU4&src=google&pr=KorresK&cr=nss) is actually an animal!!! :eek: Did you all know that?

Loofah, on the other hand, is a plant. Not that I use any of those, but thought it might be interesting from a veg*an point of view.

LINK (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/ocean/03_oceanlife/c2_algae.php)

Yea, it's sad, ha? :(
Poor little sea sponge :-/

[borealis]

Yup, sea sponges are animals. Haven't you heard of Spongebob Squarepants? :D

[Kiz]

Using sea sponges doesn't bother me because they are not killed or abused for my pleasure. The only ones I use are the ones I find washed up on the sea shore.

[kerouac]

Using sea sponges doesn't bother me because they are not killed or abused for my pleasure. The only ones I use are the ones I find washed up on the sea shore.

I've never used one, just touched one in a store once.

Are they soft when they are washed up? or do you have to do something to them?

[Walter]

They're squishy - but scratchy.

They may technically be considered animals, but any animal that can be cut in half and grow into two seperate animals is plant enough for me.

With that being said, I won't buy one. Cotton cloth is much better!

[Tommy Gun]

Mikie, what about worms? Don't they do that when you cut them?

[schu]

I have to admit mikie has a good point, i mean is the worm two seperate beings after the split or what? maybe it is..(they?) hmm.. ::mind flip::

[kpickell]

Only a few rare species of worms have the ability to regenerate a new tail and a new head both, and then it's even more rare that this will successfully happen. Most can only regenerate the tail end in some situations. An exception would be planarians (flatworms) which do usually become two new worms when cut in half.

[Kiz]

I've never used one, just touched one in a store once.

Are they soft when they are washed up? or do you have to do something to them?

They are soft and spongey, but are full of salt and sand and slightly smelly, so you have to wash them really well. I have a nasty suspicion that the store bought ones might be caught with other fish, and aren't the ones found on the beach.

[ebola]

Hmmmm...
If you think about it, the plant/animal cut-off for veganism is rather arbitary when what really matters is whether the being is likely to perceive and suffer.

For these reasons, I would consider it perfectly moral to kill and eat anything as simple as a jellyfish or a sponge. Neither have any sort of centralized nervous system.

On the other hand, sponges dont feel good on my skin and jellyfish doesn't taste good (I've had it)...so its really a non-issue with me.

ebola
np: in flames

[kpickell]

The arguement for not killing sponges probably has more to do with environmental reasons because they kind of purify the oceans.

But yeah, doesn't most everyone prefer synthetic sponges over real ones anyway, at least for bathing and washing stuff.

[bwgan]

Hah, yeah. I just learned about them in biology. ^_^ I'm liking the sea sponges. They are cool. You know, the living ones. :P

I told my mom about it. She thought it was funny. "I wonder how many vegetarians know about that." Yeah...

The sponges are picked, then prepared by beating them until the living cells fall off of the skeleton. The skeleton is the part that you use.

[janie]

Pssstt, bwgan. This thread is from 2004. :)

[bwgan]

Hehe, I didn't see that. I just used the search. I wanted to reply! :rolleyes:

Didn't know such old topics would be bumped. Figured it would just stay in the dusty archives.:p

[froggythefrog]

Pssstt, bwgan. This thread is from 2004. :)

Psssst..... It doesn't matter. Sponge's status as animals has not changed.

[janie]

Psssst..... It doesn't matter. Sponge's status as animals has not changed.

:stinkeye:

I thought it would be nice to point out that it was an old thread. I'm not the only one who does that sometimes.

[kpickell]

The sponges are picked, then prepared by beating them until the living cells fall off of the skeleton. The skeleton is the part that you use.
Yikes! It's a good things they have no sense of life or pain or death.

[bwgan]

Yikes! It's a good things they have no sense of life or pain or death.
That would hurt so much if they did. *cringe* Like, :whack:

[honeyfugle]

even though sea sponge don't have any nerve systems or feelings, i would consider it as immoral as using a dead fish or crab to wash myself with. they are all animals of the sea, even if there are people who disagree.

that's why i was so angry with my dad when he bought a set of sea sponges.

[Tesseract]

One of my major reasons for not eating seafood is the destruction we are wreaking by "harvesting" the ocean on a massive scale. The fact that sponges are not that "animal-like" as we think of it has no bearing on that.

To clarify, sponges do have a nervous system-- it's just a simple neural net and is not a centralized nervous system.

[Gnome Chomsky]

>>To clarify, sponges do have a nervous system-- it's just a simple neural net and is not a centralized nervous system.>>

No.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_sponge

ebola

[kpickell]

even though sea sponge don't have any nerve systems or feelings, i would consider it as immoral as using a dead fish or crab to wash myself with. they are all animals of the sea, even if there are people who disagree.

that's why i was so angry with my dad when he bought a set of sea sponges.That's like saying it's as immoral to eat cabbage as it is to eat pork. :dizzy:

[Tesseract]

>>To clarify, sponges do have a nervous system-- it's just a simple neural net and is not a centralized nervous system.>>

No.
Excuse me. I've confused the Radiata with the Parazoa and forgotten at which level neural nets appear. You're right. Diffuse neural nets appear in Radiates (sea anemones, corals, jellyfish, hydra, and comb jellies), which are a level higher in organization than sponges. It's been a while.