On the 9th day of Fishmas, my dear love gave to me… a harp sponge!
The harp sponge (Chondrocladia lyra) is carnivorous, catching small crustaceans on the Velcro-like hooks along its “strings”.
Fun fact: This species of sponge is a new discovery! A team of scientists from the California Academy of Sciences, the University of Victoria, the Khoyatan Marine Laboratory and Monterey Bay Research Aquarium Institute spotted it from their remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) Tiburon and Doc Ricketts. They first described the harp sponge in the journal Invertebrate Biology September of 2012. It lives about 2 miles (10,000 feet) underwater on the sea floor off the coast of California. Check out this video about that discovery:
Image sources here and here.
