Relating to choanocytes, the specialized collar cells found in sponges that draw water through the organism.
From choanocyte (from choana, funnel + -cyte, cell) + -al (adjective suffix), describing the structure or function of these unique cells found exclusively in sponges.
Choanocytes are remarkable because they look identical to single-celled protists called choanoflagellates—suggesting that sponges might be living fossils frozen at the evolutionary moment when single cells started cooperating to form multicellular life!
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