Picture a dolphin diving toward the seafloor with something odd on its nose. It is not a shell or a fish. It is a sea sponge.

WASHINGTON — Some dolphins in Australia have a special technique to flush fish from the seafloor. They hunt with a sponge on their beak, like a clown nose. Using the sponge to protect from sharp rocks ...

New research shows the effects of marine heat waves on sponges could be much more severe as temperatures rise. More intense ...

It’s impossible to ignore a new discovery known affectionately as the death ball. And there’s a good reason to pay attention ...

Marine heat is rising so fast that a single extra degree could push some of the ocean’s oldest animals past their limit. New work from researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science ...

Marine sponges play a critical role in ocean ecosystems as both habitat formers and nutrient cyclers. Their extensive and complex microbiomes, comprising bacteria, archaea and other microorganisms, ...

The next time you spot a sea sponge, say “gesundheit!” Some sponges regularly “sneeze” to clear debris from their porous bodies. It’s “like someone with a runny nose,” says team member Sally Leys, an ...

SpongeBob SquarePants and his starfish best friend, Patrick Star, aren’t such cartoonish creatures after all. According to an image taken by a marine biologist doing remote deep-sea exploration this ...

New research investigating whether nitrogen fertilizer run-off affects marine sponges suggests these animals have a high tolerance to nitrogen, but some species may be better able to cope than others.

A research group led by scientists at the University of São Paulo (USP) in São Carlos, Brazil, has identified a number of bioactive compounds in a marine sponge collected on Fernando de Noronha, an ...