// Carnivorous sponge //

Carnivorous sponge ASBESTOPLUMA HYPOGEA

At the bottom of the half-cave on the islet of Garmenjak Veli, on the open-sea side of the Dugi otok island in the 24 m deep narrow "well", carnivorous sponge of the species Asbestopluma hypogea was found in the year 2000 (Bakran-Petricioli and Petricioli). This is the second find of this kind in the world. That is why the importance of this find inside the "Telašćica" Nature Park should be specially emphasized, together with the need for protection and preserving of its habitat.

The body of this small sponge (total length up to 2 cm) that carries long filaments is situated on the thin handle and it is covered with microscopic tiny hooked needles that partly stick out of the body. Main food for these sponges is small crabs that passively "get tangled" among filaments. The surface of the body and the filaments are "sticky" because of the hooked needles. The more crabs resist the more entangled they become. Then follows the most surprising part: filaments get shorter, cells of the sponge migrate and cover the prey (this really is a carnivorous sponge) and then they slowly (in about ten days' time) digest it. After that the sponge assumes its original shape, and the undigested part of the crab is rejected. This kind of "meal" for the sponge is sufficient for a few months. This kind of feeding is an adaptation to the life in the deep sea where food is rare and barely available to the sedentary organisms such as sponges.