Scientists discover 6 new sea sponge species near New Zealand
Recommended for Preparatory Grades
Have you ever heard of a sea animal called a sea sponge?
What is a sea sponge?
Sea sponges are animals that live at the bottom of the sea. They eat tiny plants and animals in the water. Sea sponges help to keep seawater clean by eating tiny pieces of food that float by.
Scientists keep discovering new creatures in our oceans all the time. Recently, they have discovered six new species of sea sponge and a genus (family) of glass sponge. They discovered the animals deep inside the ocean near New Zealand. Moreover, they also discovered two types of sea sponges that had never been seen before in New Zealand’s oceans.
Glass sponges
Glass sponges (called hexactinellids) are known around the world but are quite rare. Their spicules (part of the skeleton that helps give the sponge its shape) are made of silica. Silica is a natural substance found in sand and we make glass from it.
The discovery
The waters around New Zealand are known to have glass sponges. So a team of scientists decided to explore it using an underwater robot. They explored the ocean floor for 31 days and took over 200 sea sponges from the floor for study.
After studying the sea sponges, they found 6 new types, two of which belong to a completely new family. The sea sponge discovery shows how many more creatures are waiting to be found in the area.
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