“I know! We can pretend to be plants! [Lies down and pretends to be a plant.] Photosynthesis! Photosynthesis. Photosynthesis.”
<a name=\'more\'></a>– SpongeBob, “Karate Choppers” episode of SpongeBob SquarePants

Can you believe that SpongeBob SquarePants, a show about a sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, has been on the air for 20 years? My mom hates SpongeBob, but she never outright banned the show. My sister even had a SpongeBob alarm clock that played the “F.U.N. Song.” You know, “F is for friends who do stuff together…” Shout out to my mom, who probably wanted to smash that alarm clock but didn’t because it made her daughter happy.

In one of the earlier episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants, SpongeBob and his squirrel friend Sandy Cheeks become addicted to karate. After a series of hijinks, Mr. Krabs threatens to fire SpongeBob from the Krusty Krab if he does not give up karate. SpongeBob suggests to Sandy that they could have fun by pretending to be plants, which to him means to lie down on the ground and move his arms and legs while repeating “photosynthesis” over and over.



So how do sponges in the ocean get their energy? After all, there are living sponges in the oceans, and they don’t eat Krabby Patties. Do they rely on photosynthesis?

The word “photosynthesis” has Greek roots that mean to put together (“synthesis”) with light (“photo”). That’s basically what photosynthesis is- it’s a process used by plants and other living things to convert light energy into chemical energy. The chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, which can then be broken down later and used as fuel for the organism.

There are two types of photosynthesis: oxygenic photosynthesis and anoxygenic photosynthesis. The oxygenic photosynthesis process is the most common and is used by plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. (Cyanobacteria are bacteria that use oxygenic photosynthesis.) In oxygenic photosynthesis, the organism takes carbon dioxide, water, and light energy (such as from the sun) to make carbohydrates (such as sugar) and oxygen. The full process involves several chemical reactions, but the summarized chemical equation to make sugar is given below.

6 CO2 + 6 H2O + Light Energy → C6H12O6 + 6 O2

In this reaction, light energy is used to remove electrons from water, making water an electron donor. Oxygen gas is produced, and the hydrogen is used to make short-term compounds to store of energy, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which in turn are used to make the sugar or other carbohydrates.



The other type of photosynthesis, anoxygenic photosynthesis, doesn’t use water and doesn’t produce oxygen. Instead, a difference potential electron donor replaces water. There are a variety of options for an electron donor. For example, purple sulfur bacteria can use hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to make the sugar glucose.

6 CO2 + 12 H2S + Light Energy → C6H12O6 + 12 S + 6 H2O

Photosynthesis in the ocean is pretty important- more than half of the oxygen we breathe comes from marine life such as seaweed and phytoplankton (microscopic marine algae).

OK, so back to sponges. Do sponges use photosynthesis for energy?



While sponges may look like plants, they’re actually animals that attach themselves on surfaces in aquatic environments. Their phylum in the animal kingdom Animalia is Porifera, which means “pore-bearing.” Sponges act like filters for the ocean. Their pores and channels allow water to flow through the sponge. Small food particles in the water are picked up and consumed by the sponge.






A few sponges are even carnivorous and ensnare animals like amphipods and copepods (both types of small crustaceans) to eat.

While sponges themselves do not use photosynthesis, there are some sponges that have formed symbiotic relationships with organisms that do use photosynthesis. The sponge provides a protected environment and compounds for the photosynthetic organisms. In return, the photosynthetic organisms provide the sponge host with glucose, glycerol, and amino acids. In fact, some sponges get 48 to 80% of their energy from symbiotic photosynthetic organisms.

So if SpongeBob can’t get enough energy from Krabby Patties, maybe he could team up with some photosynthetic organisms to fuel his shenanigans.

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