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Numerous ingenious engineering designs and devices have been the product ofbio-inspiration. Bone, nacre, and other such stiff structural biologicalmaterials (SSBMs) are composites that contain mineral and organic materialsinterlaid together in layers. In nacre, this lamellar architecture is known tocontribute to its fracture toughness, and has been investigated with the goalof discovering new engineering material design principles that can aid thedevelopment of synthetic composites that are both strong and tough. Theskeletal anchor fibers (spicules) of $\textit{Euplectella aspergillum}$($\textit{Ea.}$) also display a lamellar architecture; however, it was recentlyshown using fracture mechanics experiments and computations that the lamellarstructure in them does not significantly contribute to their fracturetoughness. An alternate hypothesis$-$load carrying capacity (LCC)hypothesis$-$regarding the lamellar architecture's functional significance in$\textit{Ea.}$ spicules is that it enhances the spicule's strength, rather thanits toughness. From the ecology perspective the LCC hypothesis is certainlyplausible, since a higher strength would allow the spicules to more firmlyanchor $\textit{Ea.}$ to the sea floor, which would be beneficial to it sinceit is a filter feeding animal. In this paper we present support for the LCChypothesis from the solid and structural mechanics perspective, which, comparedto the support from ecology, is far harder to identify but equally, if notmore, compelling and valid. We found that when the spicule functions in aknotted configuration a reduced bending stiffness benefits its load carryingcapacity, and that for a wide class of materials that are consistent with thespicules' axial symmetry, sectioning a cylindrical tube into an assembly ofco-axial tubes can reduce the tube's bending stiffness.

Functional significance of lamellar architecture in marine sponge  fibers: conditions for when splitting a cylindrical tube into an assembly of  tubes will decrease its bending stiffness