Sponges are some of the simplest and least dangerous animals on Earth, but a new species seems to be shooting for a cooler reputation.
A carnivorous "death-ball" sponge is among 30 new creatures found in the deep sea near Antarctica earlier this year by the Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census.
The new species has been placed in the genus Chondrocladia, known as the ping pong ball sponges. It's easy to see why at a glance: These creatures look like a bunch of bubbles stuck together on sticks.
But even that benign appearance is hiding their true nature. These sponges are covered in tiny hooks that capture small prey, likely crustaceans, that swim past. At least they don't feast on fossils, like other recently discovered sponges.
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Launched in 2023, the Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census is an initiative to catalog as-yet unknown creatures that live in the rarely studied Southern Ocean.
Earlier this year, the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) SuBastian spotted these death-ball sponges at a depth of 3,601 meters (11,814 feet), in a trench east of Montagu Island, which is part of one of the most remote island chains on Earth.
They weren't the only new critters found, either. The expedition also uncovered new species of scale worms covered in iridescent armor, as well as new crustaceans and sea stars.
Other highlights of the mission include capturing the first-ever video of a juvenile colossal squid, and being the first to explore a brand new ecosystem hidden under a gigantic iceberg that calved off from a glacier in West Antarctica.
The expedition may be over, but the data analysis is just beginning, the team says.
"The Southern Ocean remains profoundly under-sampled," says Michelle Taylor, Head of Science at the Ocean Census.
"To date, we have only assessed under 30 percent of the samples collected from this expedition, so confirming 30 new species already shows how much biodiversity is still undocumented."
That unknown biodiversity has been hinted at many times in recent years.
It seems like every time scientists peer into the depths of the oceans, eerie new creatures emerge, from strangely spiky crabs to adorable fish that look like they're vying for a spot in your Animal Crossing village.
All confirmed species from the Ocean Census will be curated in an open-access data platform.