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Take a Guess
During Dive 11 of Windows to the Deep 2021, on a limestone scarp in the Florida Straits, we saw two different kinds of carnivorous sponges, including this huge Chondrocladia sp. at a depth of 1,139 meters (3,737 feet). Unlike typical sponges that feed by pumping water through their bodies and filtering out tiny suspended particles (like bacteria), carnivorous sponges use Velcro-like structures on their branches to capture prey. Carnivorous sponges favor larvae and small crustaceans, which once caught, they engulf and digest.
Credit

Video courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Windows to the Deep 2021.