Weird-Looking, Meat-Eating Sponge Found In Deep Sea

[littlemissmartypants]

?1352413853

A new carnivore shaped like a candelabra has been spotted in deep ocean waters off California's Monterey Bay.

The meat-eating species was dubbed the "harp sponge," so-called because its structure resembles a harp or lyre turned on its side.

A team from the Monterey Bay Research Aquarium Institute in Moss Landing, Calif., discovered the sponge in 2000 while exploring with a remotely operated vehicle. The sponges live nearly 2 miles (3.5 kilometers) beneath the ocean's surface.

"We were just amazed. No one had ever seen this animal with their own eyes before," said Lonny Lundsten, an invertebrate biologist at the research institute and one of the first to see the harp sponge. [The World's Freakiest Looking Animals]

Researchers later collected two sponges and made video observations of 10 more. Comparison with other carnivorous sponges confirmed that Chondrocladia lyra, the sponge's scientific name, was a new species and revealed some interesting insights into the sponge's life cycle. The results of the analysis were published Oct. 18 in the journal Invertebrate Biology.

More at link including video.
http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/3752-new-carnivorous-sponge-species.html

[BlueJazz]

1. Braaaainnns....must have brains.....come closer my friend...

[geckosfeet]

2. Beautiful creature!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. A carnivorous sponge?

Who lives in a dark abyss under the sea?
Spongebob Squarepants!
Spiny and weird and carniv'rous is he!
Spongebob Squarepants!

[Gore1FL]

5. I'd love a crabby patty right about now. n/t

[intheflow]

4. the balls on the top are its balls.

Literally. Those balls are sperm sacks.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

13. Does this mean we can finally say:

"Chuck Norris doesn't have the balls of a sponge" ?

[intheflow]

18. Er... sure.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

25. Sorry about that. That comment is proof that I need to not use the computer after taking

lots of my pain meds. I'm sure it made sense to me at the time, but I have no idea what I was thinking.

[Beartracks]

6. I thought most meat-eating sponges were in Congress...

... or maybe Texas.



=====================

[patrice]

7. LOL!!!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

23. good one!

Comedy gold.

[liberalhistorian]

8. I remember when I took my son to see the

exhibit of Titanic artifacts about twelve or so years ago at the Great Lakes Science Museum in Cleveland. In addition to all of the passenger possessions and ship memorabilia that had so far been found in the wreckage, they had an exhibit of the deep-sea creatures that had been found and captured during searches and explorations of the wreckage. The words strange, weird, eerie and, at times, terrifying, do not begin to come close to the way these creatures looked. Many had never been seen before and, from the looks of them, I was very glad they were deep-sea and rarely seen!

This sponge, though, is truly both beyond fascinating and bizarre.

[Javaman]

9. I'm always so amazed at how such delicate looking creatures can exist at

such amazing pressures.

[Solly Mack]

10. K&R

[flying-skeleton]

11. "Harp Sponge" is boring - How about renaming it .........

Boehnersarus !!

[Enrique]

12. it looks like a bar graph

i've been reading too many polls.

[eppur_se_muova]

14. I was going to post a picture of SpongeBob, but then I saw the picture ...

and couldn't help but think of Hallucigenia ...

[littlemissmartypants]

16. Hallucigenia

http://library.thinkquest.org/3017/hallucig.htm

[eppur_se_muova]

17. Artist's reconstructions vary considerably ...

at first, the animal was shown upside down ... at least that's what they think now ...

[valerief]

15. Gorgeous. Should be called the Liberace Sponge. nt

[BlancheSplanchnik]

20. +1 gajillionskadillionbillionzillion!

[valerief]

21. Since you're a fan...

[BlancheSplanchnik]

22. hahaaaa!

Yay Liberace and YAY for the Liberace Sponge. Much more creative and funny name than the one the biologists came up with!

[yesphan]

19. Poseidons Comb.

[Kablooie]

24. I wonder if the Humane Society will ever find a loving home for that poor thing.

[Pterodactyl]

26. That's amazing!