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Anastassia Verbitskaïa. Sputnik France
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https://fr.sputniknews.com/sci_tech/202101191045092875-des-predateurs-jusque-la-inconnus-decouverts-au-large-de-laustralie/
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The ocean always holds surprises for scientists. Thus, researchers from Queensland have just described three unknown species of carnivorous sponges discovered in 2017 in the Great Australian Bay.
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Queensland Museum researchers have discovered three previously unknown carnivorous species in Australia’s Great Bight, reports the site Science Media Exchange.
These organisms, named Nullarbora heptaxia, Abyssocladia oxyasters and Lycopodina hystrix, live at a depth of more than three kilometers and are the first carnivorous sponges recorded in South Australia, says the report published on the scientific site.
Organisms unknown to science found in the depths of the ocean
Australian scientists have discovered previously unknown species of predatory sponges in the depths of the ocean. The new organisms – Nullarbora heptaxia, Abyssocladia oxyasters and Lycopodina hystrix – inhabit a specific area of the Greater Australian … pic.twitter.com/dbtIpzzb0w
– GlavTwit (@GlavTW) January 19, 2021
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A special adaptation
These new species look like glass or caramel and are shaped like a tree, said Dr Merrick Ekins, Australia’s leading expert on carnivorous sea sponges. Unlike others which feed by filtering seawater to extract organic particles excreted by animals, plants and microbes, carnivorous sponges have adapted to their habitat by becoming predators that directly catch and digest their prey. , for example small crustaceans.
These new species were collected in 2017 in an area intended for oil exploration, and have just been described by scientists at the State Museum of Queensland. They bring the total number of sponge species known in Australia to 25.
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