Hello, friends, and welcome to episode 113 of Just the Zoo of Us.

This week I'm joined by a truly lovely guest who is here to talk about an animal that you may not have even known was, in fact, an animal.

Sponches, specifically the ones found not outliving the salt life in the ocean, but making themselves at home in bodies of freshwater.

This chat is a special treat because our guest is going to answer some questions you may

have never thought to ask. Like, what does a sponge feel like in your hands? How does a

completely stationary animal get to new places? And what kind of role do they play in their ecosystem?

Stick around afterwards for announcements, plugs, and a sneak peek at next week's episode.

Without further ado,

Just the Zoo of Us presents Fresh Water Sponges with Mallory McNulty.

Music Hey everybody. This is Ellen Weatherford. I'm here with Just the Zoo of Us. This is your favorite animal review podcast. And this week, we're joined by a new friend. We have Mallory McNulty. Say hi, Mallory.

Hi. You have an animal for us today that I'm going to be honest with you. I frequently have to

Google to confirm that it is in fact an animal. Yeah. Actually, a lot of biologists thought that it was a plant for a really long time, too.

And a lot of people don't even know that they exist.

Right, because you hear the word sponge, and you maybe think of, like, the inanimate object that you keep in your kitchen, right?

It does not seem like an actual living creature that you would find out in nature.

Yes, I've had people ask me why I don't just use kitchen sponges to do my research.

So it's not the same thing.

Visually similar, perhaps, but not quite the same.

And specifically, we're talking about freshwater sponges, which I feel like it's like a whole different thing, right?

Because you've got to like have the concept of sponges or animals.

And then also that like they're specific to a type of water, right?

So you get like an extra level of like, I did not know that about sponges.

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