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Apr 27, 2021 06:50 PM EDT
Why did the sponge often cross the seabed? It s a permitted question, mostly since experts have only just now found that these bizarre organisms may be remarkably more sprightly than anybody ever known.
(Photo : Francesco Ungaro)
The Numerous Trails of Sponge
In a new study, scientists observed the deep Arctic seabed with an operated submersible that is far away, checking to locate signs of life beneath the ocean at the top of the world. Across the seamount peaks of Langseth Ridge submerged in the Arctic Ocean, they discovered something they never anticipated - sponge tracks, strange trails evidently left behind by some closeby and otherwise very-stationary-appearing sea sponges.
Arctic sponges leave trails as they wander
The sponges were thought to be stationary, but they leave sneaky spikes on the seafloor.
Trails left by sponges as they crawl across the seafloor. Credit: AWI OFOBS team, PS101
Adult marine sponges are usually thought to be stationary, picking a spot on the seafloor while still in their larval stage and sticking to it. Lacking muscles to move around, they’re referred to as ‘sessile’ – fixed in one place, as opposed to ‘motile’ marine creatures.
But a paper published in
Current Biology has described trails across the Arctic seafloor, made of brown spicules: spikes that belong to the sponges and provide structural support. This indicates that the mature sponges were on the move.
Unexpected Phenomenon in The Deep Ocean Hints Sponges Move Around More Than We Knew sciencealert.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sciencealert.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.