Sponge

Arctic giant sponge

Geodia hentscheli

PacificAtlanticIndianSouthernArctic Found in 2 oceans

Depth

About 130 to 2,500 m

Size

About 1 cm to 50 cm in diameter

Diet

Remains of long-gone animals and debris, thanks to its microbes

Zone

The sea floor · 200 – 3,500 m

Key facts

• Near the North Pole, under the sea ice, it forms sponge gardens on ancient undersea volcanoes.
• These sponges are about 300 years old on average.
• They feed on the remains of animals that died thousands of years ago, such as old worm tubes.
• They crawl very slowly and leave tracks on the seafloor.

Verified sources

1. Max Planck Society : Giant sponge gardens discovered on seamounts in the Arctic deep sea
2. Cosmos : Giant Arctic sponges feed on extinct ecosystems
3. Cosmos : Arctic sponges leave trails as they wander
4. Molecular Biology and Evolution 2025 : Geodia hentscheli

In the game: To observe

In the same zone

Giant Antarctic isopodGlyptonotus antarcticus Volcano spongeAnoxycalyx joubini Southern Ocean yeti crabKiwa tyleri Giant Antarctic octopusMegaleledone setebos Giant Antarctic ribbon wormParborlasia corrugatus Giant scale wormEulagisca gigantea