There are several other reasons why sponges are a model laboratory organism to explore the biological consequences of environmental pollution. For the purposes of ease of set-up, freshwater sponges represent a cost- and time-effective study organism. Gemmules grow relatively quickly (within 3-5 days) and require very little equipment to grow. All of our sponges were grown in 24- well tissue culture plates. While our experiments were conducted in a growth chamber with constant temperature and photoperiod, we have found that the sponges grow well at room temperature using ambient light levels. Gemmules are readily available at.
