Scientists have explored the dark depths of the deep ocean, and among several new sea discoveries, boffins have uncovered a ball-looking species , called the carnivorous ‘death-ball’ sponge
Ocean experts have uncovered several previously unknown deep-sea species lurking at the bottom of the ocean, and one of them is a carnivorous “death-ball” sponge.
Boffins explored the dark depths of the Southern Ocean, which included volcanic calderas and seafloor around the Montagu and Saunders islands.
Among the many discoveries of at least 30 new sea life, they found a spherical sponge species, scientifically known as Chondrocladia sp nov.
It is covered in teeny hooks that are able to hook and devour prey. According to researchers, it’s interesting because it is different to how we understand sponges feed, which is passively.
As well as that, the scientists found bright and colourful scale worms, newly discovered sea stars and rare gastropods and bivalves. Dr Michelle Taylor, head of science at the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census, which carried out the expedition, said that the Southern Ocean remains “profoundly undersampled.”
She said: “To date, we have only assessed under 30% of the samples collected from this expedition, so confirming 30 new species already shows how much biodiversity is still undocumented.”
In other sea-related news, the largest species of amphipod on Earth could be living in 59% of the world’s deepest oceans, according to a study from the University of Western Australia.
The “gigantic” and rare deep sea creature was first discovered in the 1800s and reaches whopping lengths of up to… just 34cm. An animal that is only the size of a human’s forearm might not appear deserve the “supergiant” label, but according to deep sea researcher and lead author Dr Paige Maroni they’re “ginormous” compared to other amphipods.
She told Cosmos: “Which is just fantastic when you see them, because amphipods are probably the biggest, baddest predator of the deep sea. Most other deep-sea amphipods max out at about 20cm, if that.”
Amphipods are small, prawn-like crustaceans that live in oceans all across the world.
They eat everything and anything, so they are very biodiverse and thrive where other predators like fish might disappear at depths deeper than 8,000m.
There have been sightings across 75 sites across the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans, but Alicella gigantea has always been considered quite rare.
Not many of them are tempted by the baited traps. Maroni said dead fish and dead squid smell very good to the amphipods.
Alicella gigantea are captured on their own, or very rarely in groups of up to 4 , but this takes weeks of effort to accomplish.
A recent study suggested only about 0.0001% of the deep seafloor has been seen, and the new study suggests this amphipod is much more common than we thought.
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