Name a new species of deep-sea sponge!
Scientists have recently discovered a new species of Picasso sponge, a type of deep sea
sponge, (Staurocalpytus sp.) in northern Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary waters,
and you can be the one to name it! In an effort to support this scientific investigation, the
Greater Farallones Association (a San Francisco environmental non-profit that supports
the wok of NOAA’s Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary) is holding an online
auction to name this new species, previously undescribed, from April 13 - May 17. In addition
to bragging rights to name this new animal, the winning bidder will receive a print
photograph of the new sponge, plus a bound copy of the scientific publication in which the
species will be described for the very first time.
Bidding to name this newly discovered sponge begins at $1,000 and is tax deductible. For
more information on how you can support the Greater Farallones Association, contact us at
[email protected] or join us for the live auction starting April 13.
Specimen NA077-36 and detail on the USS Independence. Photo credit: (c) Ocean Exploration Trust, funded by
NOAA
Where was this deep-sea sponge found?
The mystery sponge was found living on the USS Independence, a shipwreck near the
Farallon Islands off San Francisco, at a depth of 2,600 feet. After serving as an aircraft carrier
in Pacific military operations during WWII, the USS Independence was used as a target
vessel for atomic bomb tests in the late 1940s, and was intentionally scuttled offshore in
1951. Since then, many deep-sea marine organisms have made this shipwreck their home.
The USS Independence during WWII.
The USS Independence in 2016. Photo credit: (c)
Ocean Exploration Trust, funded by NOAA
What is a Picasso sponge?
A sponge is a sedentary marine creature with a soft,
porous body typically supported by a framework of
needle-like fibers, that grows on the ocean floor and
other surfaces. A “Picasso” sponge, dubbed for it’s surreal
shape, forms barrel-like structures that provide a home
for many other marine animals like shrimp, brittle stars,
and rockfish.
Picasso sponges are a group of sponges in the Class
Hexactinellida, also known as glass sponges. They are
called glass sponges because they have glass structures
called spicules that are strikingly similar to fiber-optic
cable materials. In fact, they are superior to humanmade fiber optics, as they are much less likely to break. In
addition, sponges can make them at low temperatures,
without the intense heat required for human-made
optical fibers. Glass sponges give us a biologically inspired
process that could give rise to better fiber-optical
materials and networks. They also form valuable habitat
in which other marine species live.
Picasso sponges on the crest of
the Davidson seamount. Photo
credit: (c) NOAA
Interesting fact: You can put a sponge in a blender and it will re-form!
Sponge cells are nearly uniform throughout. Because of this, if you put a sponge in a
blender, its cells will grow a new sponge and the sponge can live on.
Skeleton of a glass sponge. Photo credit:
(c) G.P. Schmahl.
A picasso type sponge with shrimp.
Photo credit: (c) NOAA/ MBARI 2006