What happens after a sponge larva attaches to a suitable surface?

After a sponge larva finds a suitable surface and attaches, it undergoes a process of metamorphosis to become a young sponge.1

During this transformation, the larval cells shift in their relative positions and functions to form the structures of the adult sponge. For example, in the common parenchymella larva, the flagellated outer cells migrate inward to become the choanocytes—the collar cells responsible for creating water currents and capturing food. Meanwhile, the internal cells of the larva differentiate to form the pinacoderm (the outer cell layer) and the various cell types found within the mesohyl, which is the gelatinous, amorphous substance that fills the body of the sponge.1