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https://theconversation.com/deep-sea-sponges-survive-in-complete-darkness-in-ways-we-didnt-know-before-279223>
"When we think of marine life, we usually picture colourful coral reefs or
dense seaweed forests filled with fish and other critters. The ocean that comes
to mind is the one touched by sunlight.
However, most of the ocean is not like that. By volume, roughly 95% of the
ocean consists of the permanently dark, cold deep sea. Despite such hostile
conditions though, there is life in the ocean’s abyss.
Deep-sea marine sponges are among the organisms that live in these mysterious
dark waters. They form “gardens” that are among the largest ecosystems on the
planet, some spanning thousands of square kilometres on the ocean floor. They
act as ecosystem engineers, providing habitats to many other organisms living
on the seafloor.
Individual sponges can also pump and filter thousands of litres of water every
day through their bodies. The nutrients they release support other organisms.
Yet we know remarkably little about how sponges survive, let alone thrive, in
the inhospitable environment of the deep-sea.
Symbiosis with microbes is an important part of how marine sponges live. We’ve
been studying deep-sea sponges to better understand life in the ocean’s depths.
So far, we’ve found some sponges are packed with microorganisms that use energy
from chemical reactions.
This is called chemosynthesis and is commonly found in other deep-sea
organisms, such as mussels and tubeworms living in hydrothermal vents –
deep-sea “hot springs”.
Our new study, published today in the journal
Microbiome, shows sponges and
their microbial partners also use a second strategy to make a living in the
deep sea."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
