Amphora Sponge

 | Feature | Details | | :--- | :--- | | **Species** | *Symphon amphora* ("together, amphora") | | **Attitude** | Passive | | **Type** | Anchored | | **Category** | Sponges | | **Biomes** | Plateaus, Shallows, Sleep Bay 3 |   ![Amphora Sponge](Amphora Sponge.png)   The **Amphora Sponge** is a sessile lifeform. It appears in air pockets of underwater caverns.   ## Appearance   The Amphora Sponge's body can be roughly divided into two parts. At the bottom sits a base vaguely shaped like a short, stout tree trunk flaring out at the bottom and the top. It makes up about a third of the height of the sponge. From the upper edge of the base extend at about a 45º angle a series of thin appendages in a circular formation. On top of this base sits the tall, amphora-shaped corpus of the sponge, which is hollow. Its lower half is blue, and the upper part is coral red as well as being perforated by a series of large holes with yellow edges, one of which sits at the top of the sponge.   ## Databank Entry   **Symphon amphora**. A sponge adapted to colonize — and create — air pockets.   ### 1. Amphora-shaped structure   Like all sponges, the amphora requires constant flow through its pores to survive, but it pumps air rather than water. Contraction and expansion forces moist air through the sponge's pores. Absorbent surfaces harvest water and carbon dioxide from the air. Waxy coating helps prevent water loss.   ### 2. Radiolytic metabolism   The soft blue glow of the sponge is bioluminescence fueled by radioactive minerals in the sponge's vanes (the structures growing from the anchoring rhizoid). This radiation splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The gases gather in the cave ceilings the amphora prefers to colonize, creating pockets of knallgass (unmixed hydrogen and oxygen). Though breathable, this air is highly flammable and an explosion risk. The sponge's symbiotic bacteria feed on the hydrogen and oxygen, producing energy and water. The sponge uses this energy to fix carbon from the air and grow, as an Earth plant would.   **Assessment:** a remarkable step. The amphora sponge may evolve an entire lineage of dry-land sponges, colonizing niches filled by plants and fungi on Earth.   > Indicates the presence of an air pocket. Swim up to breathe. Do not ignite flares or discharge electrical devices in the pocket.   *Source: Scan an Amphora Sponge*   ## Gallery   ![Found deep in a cave near the lifepod. This Sponge has a purple tint on its upper surfaces.](Amphora Sponge 1.png)+*Found deep in a cave near the lifepod. This Sponge has a purple tint on its upper surfaces.*  -![Found in the same air pocket, these specimens have a bluish tint rather than purple.](Amphora Sponge 2.png)+![Found in the same air pocket, these specimens have a bluish tint rather than purple.](Amphora Sponge 2.png)+*Found in the same air pocket, these specimens have a bluish tint rather than purple.*