New carnivorous harp sponge discovered in deep-sea
You may remember the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
from such discoveries as the Yeti crab, the squid with elbows and my
personal favourite, the pigbutt worm, and now they’re back with footage
of a new species of carnivorous sponge.
Seventeen years ago, Jean Vacelet and Nicole Boury-Esnault from the Centre of Oceanology at Fran
ce’s
Aix-Marseille University provided the first real evidence that a sponge
could be more than, well, a sponge. They had discovered a new species
of deep-sea sponge living in the unusual setting of a shallow
Mediterranean sea cave, the inside of which mimicked the conditions of
its usual habitat more than a kilometre below the surface.
This allowed the researchers an unprecedented view of the sponge’s
eating habits, and they watched as it snared its prey of small fish and
crustaceans instead of absorbing bacteria and organic particles through
their bodies, like most other sponge
species do – including ones living in the very same cave.
http://
Image:Chondrocladia lyra, a new species of carnivorous harp sponge. Credit: MBARI
New carnivorous harp sponge discovered in deep-sea
You may remember the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) from such discoveries as the Yeti crab, the squid with elbows and my personal favourite, the pigbutt worm, and now they’re back with footage of a new species of carnivorous sponge.
Seventeen years ago, Jean Vacelet and Nicole Boury-Esnault from the Centre of Oceanology at Fran
You may remember the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) from such discoveries as the Yeti crab, the squid with elbows and my personal favourite, the pigbutt worm, and now they’re back with footage of a new species of carnivorous sponge.
Seventeen years ago, Jean Vacelet and Nicole Boury-Esnault from the Centre of Oceanology at Fran
ce’s
Aix-Marseille University provided the first real evidence that a sponge
could be more than, well, a sponge. They had discovered a new species
of deep-sea sponge living in the unusual setting of a shallow
Mediterranean sea cave, the inside of which mimicked the conditions of
its usual habitat more than a kilometre below the surface.
This allowed the researchers an unprecedented view of the sponge’s eating habits, and they watched as it snared its prey of small fish and crustaceans instead of absorbing bacteria and organic particles through their bodies, like most other sponge
species do – including ones living in the very same cave.
http://
Image:Chondrocladia lyra, a new species of carnivorous harp sponge. Credit: MBARI
This allowed the researchers an unprecedented view of the sponge’s eating habits, and they watched as it snared its prey of small fish and crustaceans instead of absorbing bacteria and organic particles through their bodies, like most other sponge
species do – including ones living in the very same cave.
http://
Image:Chondrocladia lyra, a new species of carnivorous harp sponge. Credit: MBARI
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