For the kiss called osculum, see Osculum infame

Osculum infame

Osculum infame is the name of a witch’s supposed ritual greeting upon meeting with the Devil. The name means The Shameful Kiss, or The Kiss of Shame since it involved kissing the devil's anus, his other mouth...

The osculum is an excretory structure in the living sponge

Sea sponge

Sponges are animals of the phylum Porifera . Their bodies consist of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. While all animals have unspecialized cells that can transform into specialized cells, sponges are unique in having some specialized cells, but can also have...

, a large opening to the outside through which the current of water exits after passing through the spongocoel

Spongocoel

A spongocoel is the large, central cavity of sponges. Water enters the spongocoel through hundreds of tiny pores and exits through the larger opening . Depending on the body plan of the sponge , the spongocoel could be a simple interior space of the sponge or a complexly branched inner structure...

. Wastes diffuse into the water and the water exits through the osculum at a velocity of nearly 8.4 cm/second, carrying away with it the sponge's wastes.
The size of the osculum is regulated by the myocyte. Its size, in turn, determines the amount of water flowing through the sponge

Sea sponge

Sponges are animals of the phylum Porifera . Their bodies consist of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. While all animals have unspecialized cells that can transform into specialized cells, sponges are unique in having some specialized cells, but can also have...

.