Australian scientists have discovered previously unknown species of predatory sponges in the depths of the ocean. The discovery is reported in the journal Zootaxa, briefly about the scientific research is reported by Science Alert.
The new organisms – Nullarbora heptaxia , Abyssocladia oxyasters and Lycopodina hystrix – inhabit a specific area of the Great Australian Bay. Sponges are multicellular animals that obtain food by filtering running seawater. They do not have a nervous, digestive and circulatory system, however, some predatory sponges use special hunting mechanisms for hunting.
These are the first predatory sponges found in South Australia and bring the total number of sponge species in the region to 25.
The three new species form three new genera and are closely related to the new non-carnivorous sponge Guitarra davidconryi . They live at depths from 163 to three thousand meters. The discovery was made using remotely controlled unmanned underwater vehicles, as well as submersible samplers.
