<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/14/deep-sea-sponges-discovery-mining-fishing>
"Scientists have discovered nine new deep-sea sponge species off Alaska,
offering new insights into the region’s largely unexplored marine biodiversity.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) announced the
discovery on Thursday, saying the species were found in the Gulf of Alaska and
the Aleutian Islands. The findings bring the total number of known sponge
species in Alaska to 232.
The specimens were collected during Noaa Fisheries’ annual bottom-trawl
surveys, which monitor groundfish and shellfish stocks. Researchers analyzed
samples collected as far back as 2012, describing the new species in two recent
scientific papers.
Often described as living water pumps, sponges are among Earth’s earliest
multicellular animals, dating back more than 600m years. They filter seawater
and help create habitats on the seafloor, despite having no brain or complex
organs.
“Sponges are ecologically important,” said Sean Rooney, a Noaa fisheries
biologist and co-author of the studies at the agency’s Alaska Fisheries Science
Center. “They aren’t plants, but like trees in a forest, they provide complex
structure along the seafloor that creates habitat and refuge for commercially
important fish and crabs,” he added.
“Each time we find a new species, it opens up new doors … Deep water is hard to
access, especially rocky places we can’t reach with bottom-trawl surveys. There
are now more than 232 identified species of sponges in Alaska, and probably
hundreds more that we don’t know about yet. The future in this field is
exciting,” he continued."
Via Susan ****
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
