Many sponges make chemicals that are useful pharmaceutically for humans, such as anti-cancer or anti-bacterial. Verongiid sponges make a unique set of chemicals that are small, bromine-containing molecules. These molecules are natural antibacterials, defending the sponge by repelling bacteria and other tiny organisms. Humans are continually looking for compounds to achieve this antifouling. Think about how we use antibiotics to treat bacterial infections, food preservatives to keep food from rotting, and metal-based paints designed to keep wood from decaying. Chemicals extracted from verongiid sponges, or copied in the laboratory, might serve these functions. The challenge is to make use of these remarkable, natural chemicals while conserving populations of sponges.

With the exception of one group of carnivorous sponges, all sponges are filter-feeders. The design of their bodies is mostly about filtering food, and does not include a mouth or stomach. A sponge body is basically a tube or sack with lots of small pores (ostia) for water to come in and other, larger pores (oscula) for water to get out. What happens in between varies. In the simplest sponge bodies, the water enters the ostia pores and then dumps into a large, central area called the atrium. The most complex sponge bodies have a whole system of canals leading to smaller chambers where water gets filtered. In any case, the filtering is done by little hair-like flagella that trap bacteria and tiny ocean organisms (plankton) before the water gets expelled from the sponge. Sponge wastewater may be flushed out forcefully enough to travel 10 feet.