New carnivorous sea sponge identified

A new species of sponge resembling a harp and first found off the coast of California in 2000 has been confirmed to be carnivorous.

 

Researchers working with a team from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute said the Chondrocladia lyra catch prey and use chemicals to break them down, Phys.org reported.

 

Not only that: the sponge, which lives almost two miles down, was also found to mate via sperm package delivery, Phys.org quoted the researchers as saying in their paper published in the journal Invertebrate Biology.  

 

"The researchers theorize that the harp sponge developed its elaborate structure as a means of maximizing surface area to allow for catching the most possible prey," Phys.org said.

 

The researchers, who studied the harp-like sponges using deep sea vehicles, found the "strings" have hooks to catch invertebrate prey.

 

After capturing the prey, the hooks channeled it to an enclosure where chemicals break it down.

 

On the other hand, balls on top of the "strings" have packets of spermatophores that are released into the surrounding water where currents carry them to other sponges.

 

Eggs that are fertilized can swell as new sponges develop, the research found.

 

Further research showed the harp sponges are anchored to the sea floor with root-like rhizoids.

 

Vanes on the sponges are described as equiangular, "such that together they display pentaradiate, tetraradiate, triradiate, or biradiate symmetries," Phys.org said.

 

"Each vane is formed by a horizontal stolon supporting a series of upright, equidistantly spaced branches each of which terminates at its apex in a swollen ball in all observed specimens except the paratype," it said. — TJD, GMA News