In the depths of the ocean near the Antarctic coast, an international scientific mission uncovered above thirty previously unknown organisms. Among them is a novel kind of predatory sponge, whose peculiar appearance and lifestyle entirely contradict the harmless reputation of these simple animals. The investigation was conducted as part of the Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census initiative, launched in 2023 to catalog the unexplored life in the rarely studied Southern Ocean. The new species was assigned to the genus Chondrocladia, known as “ping-pong ball” sponges. At first glance, the creature resembles a cluster of translucent bubbles attached to stalks. Yet, behind this innocuous exterior hides a true predator. The sponge’s surface is covered with microscopic hooks meant to ensnare small prey swimming past—likely crustaceans. This “ball of death,” as it has already been dubbed, was spotted by the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian at a depth of 3601 meters in trenches east of Montague Island, in one of the planet’s most remote archipelagos. The expedition yielded other findings too. Scientists discovered new kinds of polychaete worms covered in an iridescent carapace, as well as unidentified species of crustaceans and sea stars. Special achievements included the first-ever footage of a juvenile colossal squid and the first survey of a completely new ecosystem concealed beneath a giant iceberg that calved from a glacier in West Antarctica. As Michel Taylor, the lead scientist for Ocean Census, notes, data analysis is just beginning. The Southern Ocean remains extremely little-explored: less than 30 percent of the collected specimens have been processed to date. The thirty newly confirmed species clearly illustrate the immense deep-sea biodiversity that still awaits description. All confirmed species will be entered into an open database accessible to researchers worldwide.
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