Jaws!   What stays in one place, lives in the water, and eats minuscule organisms? No, it's not a Venus's fly-trap with a scuba tank, it's the carnivorous sponge!  

Until recent times, porifera were categorized as herbivorous filter feeders. Scientists theorized and generalized, eventually, that all sponges implemented a filter feeding system designed for microscopic sustenance. But, as a result of the endeavors and research of two French scientists, past generalizations equate to nothing.

After some intriguing studies within the deep, mystic waters of the Mediterranean Sea, which is noted for porifera inhabitance, Jean Vacelet and Nicole Boury-Esnault of Marseilles, France discovered a cave that wasn't too far below the surface, approximately twenty meters in depth. Contained within the dark and numinous passages of this labyrinth was a very interesting creature. Unlike all other sponges currently known to science, this one consumed meat! It belonged to the genus Asbestopluma, but beyond its classification, no other characteristics of this porifera were typical. Usually, Asbestoplumatic porifera were deep sea dwellers, living in waters about 28,500 feet in depth. It is theorized that currents could have transported these sponges to the cave, but no other plausible explanation could be developed.

As to the unique niches of this porifera, we will now elucidate. The organism, only about 0.75 inches tall, is composed of a white ovular body with tiny, whip-like features. When potential prey stray in the proximity of the sponge- snatch!!! The prey comes into contact with precarious hooks that have no intention of being lenient in their grasp. If the object of predation persists to move, it will become only more entangled. Eventually, the tentacles overwhelm the organism, which is usually a shrimp or other crustacean of diminutive dimensions. This process takes up the duration of a day, and digestion occurs over a course of three days. After this, the process indefinitely repeats.

*Note-We were able to contact Jean Vacelet of the Oceanographic Center of Marseilles, France. However, he was so busy with new projects that he could only give us an address to one of his pages. We wish him and his colleagues the best of luck!!