A standout discovery was this new predatory sponge. Its spherical form is covered in tiny hooks that trap prey.

A carnivorous "death-ball" sponge has been declared one of the oddest finds made during a deep-sea expedition near Antarctica. The unusual creature was discovered 2.2 miles (3.5km) deep in a trench ...

In the darkness of the deep ocean, where pressure crushes and light fails, an expedition has found an astonishing array of ...

Learn about the new deep-sea species discovered in the Southern Ocean, including a "death-ball" sponge that uses a deadly ...

The second expedition took researchers to the Southern Ocean’s Bellingshausen Sea, off West Antarctica. The team was the ...

There's always a lot going on in the deep ocean, but anyone who had “carnivorous 'death-ball' sponge” on their bingo card for 2025 deserves to win the prize. It's one of 30 new species discovered by ...

Inside deep-sea coral in the Pacific, an iridescent creature waits in ambush. Zhou Y, Zhang R, Shen C, Mao Q, Zhang M, Zhang D (2025) ZooKeys The underwater mountains of the northwest Pacific are ...

The deep-sea Venus flower basket sponge can filter feed using only the faint ambient currents of the ocean depths, no pumping required, new research reveals. This discovery of natural 'zero energy' ...

Photograper Julio A. Díaz. The new discoveries will increase the ecological importance of the Mallorca channel seamounts and the littoral caves, providing compelling arguments for the Spanish ...

Marine sponges and the deep-sea ecosystem are comparatively under-studied and under-exploited compared with life in shallower waters - but a team of scientists from the University of Plymouth are ...

Sponges may conjure visions of the soft and squishy, but some of those living deep beneath the sea build complex glass structures that are marvels of engineering. The sponge, from the genus ...