#sponges — Public Fediverse posts

4-Sep-2026
#Archaea as "flexitarians": #ammonia-oxidizing #microbes also feed on amino acids
The tiny helpers of marine #sponges also use organic #aminoAcids

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142406

#science #ecology

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🛸🌊 A #NOAA #ROV explores abyssal plains near the #CookIslands in the #SouthPacific, mapping the deep seafloor and #water column with sensors while live streaming nearly daily through August 13. Divers have already spotted carnivorous #sponges that capture small #crustaceans, a surprising find for habitats once thought sparse.

👉 https://www.popsci.com/environment/deep-sea-exploration-livestream-pacific/

#deepsea #pacific #marinebiology #oceanography #science #exploration #conservation #maps #abyssal #biology

How #Microplastics Get into Our #Food

#Kitchen items—#sponges, #blenders, #kettles—are abundant sources of microplastics that we all consume

#Sponges' #symbiosis with #bacteria helps them store toxic #molybdenum to keep predators away
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-sponges-symbiosis-bacteria-toxic-molybdenum.html

Out of the blue: Hyperaccumulation of molybdenum in the Indo-Pacific sponge Theonella conica https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn3923

"Entotheonella serves as a detoxifying organ for accumulating metals inside the body of its #sponge hosts. Hoarding more and more molybdenum, the bacteria convert it from its toxic soluble state into a mineral."

Chondrocladia Sponge
https://interactiveoceans.washington.edu/05/2024/chondrocladia-sponge/

"A bizarre and rarely-seen carnivorous #DeepSea sponge, Chondrocladia lampadiglobus (colloquially known as the ping pong tree sponge) can be seen growing on stalks anchored in the sediment of the #abyssal #ocean... They have a modified version of the internal water flow system found in shallow-water #sponges, but they use it to inflate the round balloon-like structures that capture prey (usually small #crustaceans) using hooked spicules."

#Scientists find banded sand #catsharks hiding inside sea sponges https://phys.org/news/2023-09-scientists-banded-sand-catsharks-sea.html

#Sharks checking in to the #sponge hotel: first internal use of #sponges of the genus #Agelas and family #Irciniidae by banded sand catsharks #Atelomycterus fasciatus. By Helen O'Neill et al. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfb.15554

"Some bony #fish use sponges as #microhabitats. However, this behavior had never been seen before in sharks or other #elasmobranchs, the group including sharks, #rays, #skates, #sawfish"