The ocean is a big place with many deep, dark mysteries. Humans have mapped no more than 20% of the sea, and explored less. Even the kelp forests of Southern California — among the best studied patches of ocean on the planet — hide species not yet described by science.
The ocean is a big place with many deep, dark mysteries. Humans have mapped no more than 20% of the sea, and explored less. Even the kelp forests of Southern California — among the best studied patches of ocean on the planet — hide species not yet described by science.
Now, UC Santa Barbara’s Thomas Turner(link is external) has published a paper in the journal Zootaxa(link is external) describing four new species of sponges. These novel specimens weren’t dredged from the murky depths or found on some distant seamount, but collected locally from popular dive spots. The study brings Turner’s new species count to five, and the scientist believes there may be dozens yet to discover and describe along the West Coast.
Turner, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, collected hundreds of samples by hand from dives he conducted all around Southern California. He made sure to photograph each sponge in its natural habitat, documentation that will provide a wealth of information not otherwise available once a specimen goes into a collection. Back in the lab, he got to work analyzing their anatomy and sequencing their genes.
Read more at: University of California - Santa Barbara
A California spiny lobster takes refuge in a crevice beneath the faintly pattered Scopalina jali, one of the new species of sponge described in this paper. (Photo Credit: Thomas Turner)
