Longevity Secrets of the Three Marine Beauties—Sponges, Corals, and Sea Anemones

SpongesSponges, coralsCorals and sea anemonesSea anemone are ancient metazoan life forms that have much in common. They are sessile marine species of simple organization—all growing throughout their life, harboring symbiotic microorganisms, using both sexual and asexual reproduction, and lacking many regulatory and defense systems. Nevertheless, they are thriving worldwide. SpongesSponges (Porifera) have only a few types of differentiated cells. Instead, they widely use microorganisms from diverse symbiotic communities. We suggest that spongesSponges are a product of the tight symbiosis of metazoan and microbial cells, creating by essence a hybrid. In fact, they are composed partly of immortal cells of microorganisms and partly of ancient metazoan cells. Such an assembly of cells, together with an extraordinary tissue regenerationTissue regeneration, may ensure a stunning longevityLongevity record of ca. 11,000–15,000 years! CoralsCorals and sea anemonesSea anemone belong to the later emerged cnidarians with a wider range of differentiated cells. CoralsCorals are able to catch some plankton and small fish, though are used to feeding via the endosymbiotic photosynthetic algae. CoralsCorals are the second in the list of the long-lived animalsLong-lived animals (over 4200 years). Sea anemonesSea anemone are more active and presumably thereby have only modest longevityLongevity (50–80 years).