Which phylum includes animal sponges?

Sponges are classified as animals and belong to the phylum Porifera.21

While early naturalists sometimes mistook them for plants due to their lack of movement and branching forms, sponges are multicellular organisms that filter food and oxygen from water through a specialized system of canals and chambers. They are distinct from other animals because they lack true tissues and organs, leading some scientists to place them in the subkingdom Parazoa, though they are widely recognized as genuine members of the animal kingdom.23