A rare hour-long sneeze of the sponge

US scientists recorded sponges sneezing, rare behavior of animals living in the deep sea.

In the California Seafloor Observatory program, scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute discovered the sponges "sneezing" when watching movies.

Sneezing is not unusual but this is the behavior of humans and terrestrial animals. Therefore, it is strange that the animals living in the deep sea sneeze are considered strange.

BGR describes the spongy individual in the shape of a wineglass. In the timelapse video for about 30 seconds, this creature constantly opens and shrinks its whole body. At first, the scientists were confused by this odd behavior. Finally, the answer lies in the digestive mechanism of animals.

Sponges eat small pieces of water that flow through them.

'Previously, sponges had acted similarly. Basically, when they expand, they emit 'ahh' and there is a '-choo' when they shrink , ' said Amanda Kahn, a member of the research team.

Sponges feed by sucking water through the body and filtering the floating food particles in it. However, not everything caught up is helpful with sponges. Without mechanisms to remove impurities, they will absorb nutrients less well.

Sneezing is thought to be the natural reaction of sponges to small, inedible pieces. They push impurities out, return to their original shape and continue the process of filtering food.

In the timelapse video recorded by scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the sneeze seemed to be very quick. But in fact, each sneezing process can last from one hour to several weeks.

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