Largest sponge

On 12 August 2015, scientists studying deep-sea ecosystems in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, off Hawaii, USA, captured footage of a sponge that measured 3.5 metres (11 feet 5 inches) long, 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches) high and 1.5 metres (4 feet 10 inches) wide, using two remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) during an expedition by NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. Although a sample of the superlative sponge was not taken, a specimen from what is thought to be the same species collected in the same area, was determined to be a type of glass sponge from the family Rossellidae (subfamily Lanuginellinae).

The creature was discovered at a depth of 2,117 metres (6,950 feet) down, in a marine conservation area located in the north-western Hawaiian islands

Owing to its size, and based on other estimated sponge lifespans, it’s thought that this colony could be several thousand years old.

The study was conducted by Daniel Wagner of NOAA and Professor Christopher Kelley of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, USA, with the findings published in the journal Marine Biodiversity on 24 May 2016.

Previous to this sighting, the record was held by a colony of Aphrocallistes vastus discovered in 1887 in waters off western Canada. It measured 3.4 metres (11 feet 1 inch) long, 1.1 metres (3 feet 7 inches) high and 0.5 metres (1 foot 7 inches) wide.