Factoid/2020/07/17
From Beachapedia
< Beachapedia:Factoid | 2020 | 07
New Deep Sea Sponge is Named
- "On July 25, 2017, while exploring a seamount nearly 850 miles southwest of Hawai'i during an expedition led by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, a team of deep-ocean explorers came upon an extraordinary seascape. Dr. Chris Mah of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) dubbed the scene the “Forest of the Weird” due to the diversity of prominent sponges rising up on stalks with their bodies oriented to face the predominant current carrying tiny food particles. Among the different sponges within this alien-like community was one that could not be missed. Rising high on a stalk, this sponge had a body with two large holes oddly reminiscent of the large eyes of the alien from the beloved movie, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. ... In a newly published paper, scientists have identified and named a new genus and species of sponge: Advhena magnifica, Latin for “magnificent alien.”" - Excerpt from NOAA
Factoid has been Emailed/Tweeted: No
| Coastal Factoids Archive | Coastal Factoids on Twitter | Coastal Factoids RSS Feed |