Researchers also deployed a hybrid remotely operated vehicle, capturing images and video footage of massive sponge colonies. Scientists discovered the phenomenon after analyzing videos captured in 2016 by scientists aboard the research icebreaker Polarstern.ĭuring the expedition, Polarstern towed a sled outfitted with a camera over the underwater peaks of the Langseth Ridge. Still, researchers had never before observed evidence of sponge migration in the ocean. Sponges don't have any muscles or organs for moving around, but scientists have previously observed some evidence of mobility in the laboratory. Morganti, scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Marine Microbiology. "This is the first time abundant sponge trails have been observed in situ and attributed to sponge mobility," the researchers wrote. "We observed trails of densely interwoven spicules connected directly to the underside or lower flanks of sponge individuals, suggesting these trails are traces of motility of the sponges," researchers wrote in their newly published paper. Until now, scientists assumed mobility was limited to the larval stage - after young sponges locate a comfy spot on the seafloor, marine biologists estimated they settled down for life. The discovery, detailed Monday in the journal Current Biology, suggests sponges are surprisingly mobile.
Recent surveys of the Arctic seabed revealed trails of light brown sponge spicules, needle-like support elements in sea sponges.
New research suggests ocean sponges aren't as sedentary as once thought.