Carnivorous sponge found in deep sea bed

[terry78]

http://news.yahoo.com/weird-looking-meat-eating-sponge-found-deep-sea-163306148.html


That's how it starts.

 

[The Squirrel]

We must strike now while it is still weak.

 

[bullets]

It's amazing to still be finding new species down there.

 

[chamber-music]

I don't even want to think what creatures are in the deep trenches in our oceans.

I bet there are things down there that would make a great white shark poop its pants if it wore pants.

 

[Quasimod0]

There's really no telling whats down there. Probably huge sea creatures too

 

[Doctor Evo]

There's really no telling whats down there. Probably huge sea creatures too

Eh...maybe. Granted, there's still a lot we have to learn about deep-sea ecosystems, but they tend to be low-energy in ecological terms. This could effectively limit the size of organisms at higher trophic levels (e.g., top predators), especially if they live exclusively in these deep-water regions. It really depends on the availability of food from the surface, as I'm not convinced that chemoautotrophs (vent organisms and bacteria) could support high-energy ecosystem structure.

 

[Quasimod0]

Someone has done their reading.

 

[Piper Maru]

Cthulhu waits dreaming....

 

[Pink Ranger]

Spongebob + Rage Virus

 

[Gold Samurai]

It's already here!

[YT]SQmFWYWqTZA[/YT]

Search for rednecks blowing up the poor things too on google

 

[Doctor Evo]

Someone has done their reading.

And got a degree in marine biology.

Expanding upon what I wrote before, that really applied to organisms at higher trophic levels. The lower down on the food-chain/web you feed, the more efficiently you use energy available in the system (lower trophic levels contain greater biomass). So if we're talking about, say, the equivalent of a grazer/herbivore in terrestrial systems (most large whales also feed at a lower trophic level - they're usually secondary consumers, at about the third level), there may be something there. My money would be on large colonial organisms (like sponges, corals, bryozoans, etc.) with low metabolic rates and high levels of metabolic efficiency, which would allow them to grow to considerable size. But then again, I'm not sure this fits with your definition of a "huge sea creature."

Also, again, this applies to organisms living exclusively in these deep-sea environments. If we have an organism that makes periodic migrations to more shallow habitat, that would change many of these considerations with respect to access to food/energy. But it would also probably increase the likelihood of its discovery up until this point (then again, this assumption may be flawed).

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

 

[Quasimod0]

Lol for real?

 

[Doctor Evo]

Lol for real?

Yeah, bath salts are awesome.

 

[Pink Ranger]

And got a degree in marine biology.

Expanding upon what I wrote before, that really applied to organisms at higher trophic levels. The lower down on the food-chain/web you feed, the more efficiently you use energy available in the system (lower trophic levels contain greater biomass). So if we're talking about, say, the equivalent of a grazer/herbivore in terrestrial systems (most large whales also feed at a lower trophic level - they're usually secondary consumers, at about the third level), there may be something there. My money would be on large colonial organisms (like sponges, corals, bryozoans, etc.) with low metabolic rates and high levels of metabolic efficiency, which would allow them to grow to considerable size. But then again, I'm not sure this fits with your definition of a "huge sea creature."

Also, again, this applies to organisms living exclusively in these deep-sea environments. If we have an organism that makes periodic migrations to more shallow habitat, that would change many of these considerations with respect to access to food/energy. But it would also probably increase the likelihood of its discovery up until this point (then again, this assumption may be flawed).

... I like cookies, and shiny buttons ...

 

[Quasimod0]

Yeah, bath salts are awesome.

Lol, i was talkin about your marine biology degree.

 

[Doctor Evo]

... I like cookies, and shiny buttons ...

Don't we all?

 

[Quasimod0]

And got a degree in marine biology.

Expanding upon what I wrote before, that really applied to organisms at higher trophic levels. The lower down on the food-chain/web you feed, the more efficiently you use energy available in the system (lower trophic levels contain greater biomass). So if we're talking about, say, the equivalent of a grazer/herbivore in terrestrial systems (most large whales also feed at a lower trophic level - they're usually secondary consumers, at about the third level), there may be something there. My money would be on large colonial organisms (like sponges, corals, bryozoans, etc.) with low metabolic rates and high levels of metabolic efficiency, which would allow them to grow to considerable size. But then again, I'm not sure this fits with your definition of a "huge sea creature."

Also, again, this applies to organisms living exclusively in these deep-sea environments. If we have an organism that makes periodic migrations to more shallow habitat, that would change many of these considerations with respect to access to food/energy. But it would also probably increase the likelihood of its discovery up until this point (then again, this assumption may be flawed).

Well wow, thanks.

 

[Doctor Evo]

Well wow, thanks.

Hey, no worries. I always jump at the chance to be an insufferable know-it-all.