Mediterranean #sponge species receive strengthened #protection under the Barcelona Convention, thanks to researchers from SponBIODIV! 🤩 @biodiversa.eu

Our Swedish partner was invited again on national TV to talk about the Deep Arctic Expedition and its first results @biodiversa.eu

Paco Cardenas@paccardenas.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New interview today on our Deep Arctic Expedition on the Swedish National Channel TV4 (Nyhetsdagen), another opportunity to talk about #sponges and why its important to protect these deep-sea habitats 🙂 @greenpeace.org @uu.se

A new deep-sea LIVE ongoing! 👇 @biodiversa.eu

Paco Cardenas@paccardenas.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Hi everyone, our third LIVE dive is now! Today we are on Mohns Treasure, an inactive sulfide mound at 2400-2800 m. Located 30 km southwest of the active Loki’s Castle vent field. We already saw this morning the iconic dumbo octopus 🐙 ! @greenpeace.org @uu.se

Our Swedish partner is answering questions from US and Canada classrooms on the deep-sea and #sponges! @biodiversa.eu

Paco Cardenas@paccardenas.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We were today LIVE with classrooms across the US and Canada, Inspiring the next generation of marine scientists and explorers 🤩 (with the school platform "Exploring by the Seat of your pants"). More than 600 kids joined! @biodiversa.eu @uu.se @greenpeace.org @sponbiodiv.bsky.social Rewatch 👇

Our researchers from the Museums in Uppsala and Madrid are streaming LIVE from the Arctic Mid-Atlantic Ridge: on Bamboo Coral Garden at 1000 m depth. So many #sponges! @biodiversa.eu @greenpeace.org @uu.se @mncn-csic.bsky.social #deeparcticexpedtion

Sergi Taboada@sergitaboada.bsky.social · 3mo ago

www.youtube.com/live/aat4yLR... Live stream of the Deep Arctic Expedition led by Greenpeace. Exploring a seamount with loads of sponges and bamboo coral

Sponges and the deep-sea presented on National Swedish TV! from our Uppsala University partner 👇 @biodiversa.eu

Paco Cardenas@paccardenas.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This morning, we were on the plateau of TV4 Nyhetsmorgon (Swedish National TV) to talk about our upcoming Greenpeace 'Deep Arctic' expedition and sponges! 🤩 @greenpeace.de @sponbiodiv.bsky.social @biodiversa.eu @uu.se

Our Brazilian partner is organizing the "3rd Brazilian Symposium on Spongiology" (3º SIBESP) will take place from November 10 to 13 at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in Salvador, Brazil. Participation will be in person only, and the official language will be Portuguese.

Our Swedish and Spanish partners are getting ready for an upcoming expedition to the Arctic Mid-Atlantic Ridge in collaboration with Greenpeace! 🤩 The aims are to explore the Arctic deep sea fauna (including #sponges), but also push for the protection of the Deep. @biodiversa.eu

Paco Cardenas@paccardenas.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Gear and equipment for the Greenpeace Deep Arctic Expedition was picked up today! It will wait for us on the Research Vessel in Ireland. J-20 days. @greenpeace.eu @sponbiodiv.bsky.social @biodiversa.eu

Our Brazilian SponBIODIV partner includes the world leading experts on #calcareous #sponges! These sponges are particularly challenging to find and identify. Here's a recent paper on the species found in Eastern Brazil. 🤩 1/6 @biodiversa.eu mapress.com/zt/article/v...

SponBIODIV @biodiversa.eu participates in a new population genomics study of the beautiful Mediterranean🧽 Axinella polypoides. Findings emphasize the importance of protecting mesophotic habitats! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Does an arctic circumpolar distribution exist for deep-sea #sponges? Unravelling the systematics of the lollipop sponge 🍭, led by our collaborators @ciimar.bsky.social @geomarkiel.bsky.social @biodiversa.eu www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... (photo: MAREANO / Havforskningsinstituttet)

#Photogrammetry works to monitor vulnerable marine ecosystems such as deepsea #spongegrounds! A population of the iconic 'Asconema setubalense' slightly increased reveal our partners from IEO-CSIC (Gijón, Spain), despite high fishing pressure. @biodiversa.eu www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The use of historical #collections is pivotal in the understanding of today's taxonomy and biodiversity. Our SponBIODIV partner @uu.se illustrates this with a 19th century🎩 #sponge🪸 collection from the North Atlantic 🌊. @biodiversa.eu

Paco Cardenas@paccardenas.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Particularly proud of this paper: the discovery of an unknown historical #collection of #sponge fragments from the German Oscar Schmidt (1823–1886) bringing us back to the early days of spongiology. What a treasure! 🤩 doi.org/10.1093/jhc/...

Uppsala University was curious to see for themselves the new order of #sponges we discovered 😅

Uppsala universitet on Instagram: "(English below) Paco Cárdenas och Julio A. Díaz har hittat helt nya svampdjur, som bland annat lever utanför Spaniens kuster. Vid närmare analys upptäckte forskarna ...

112 likes, 3 comments - uppsalauniversity on December 2, 2025: "(English below) Paco Cárdenas och Julio A. Díaz har hittat helt nya svampdjur, som bland annat lever utanför Spaniens kuster. Vid närmar...

instagram.com

The Uppsala University News today talk about our new order of sponges! 🪸If you want to know more 👇

New marine sponges provide clues about animal evolution - Uppsala University

uu.se

Amazing SponBIODIV discovery 🤩 by Díaz et al. at the Museum of Evolution at Uppsala University, Sweden. We welcome the VILESIDA, an entirely new order of #sponges 🪸 @biodiversa.eu

Paco Cardenas@paccardenas.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🧵We just described Vilesida @uu.se, a new ORDER of #sponges potentially linked to the earliest known animal biomarker! 🔬🪸🪼 #MueumofEvolution doi.org/10.1093/zool... @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social @ieo.es @ucriverside.bsky.social @sponbiodiv.bsky.social @biodiversa.eu

New observations of fascinating rock #sponges 🤩, in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea! A short note from our Greek partners highlight some of the threats rock sponges face, such as #plastic liter in the deep-sea 🙁 @biodiversa.eu link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#Connectivity in the #deepsea! EXCELLENT study on the key sponge ground species ‘Geodia hentscheli’, shows strong genetic and microbiome structures segregated by depth. 👇 academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Do microbes contribute to #sponge sexual reproduction❤️ ? A team from SponBIODIV finds significant microbial composition changes in two species between reproductive and non-reproductive sponges! Spoiler: #Archaea are important! @mncn-csic.bsky.social @biodiversa.eu journals.asm.org/doi/full/10....

Can #sponges help protect the threatened coastal lagoon of the Mar Menor (SE of Spain)? 🧽 #eDNA 🧬 to monitor biological communities in shallow coastal ecosystems. 76 taxa, 9 phyla identified by Corral-Lou et al! @mncn-csic.bsky.social @biodiversa.eu onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

What a great SponBIODIV kickoff meeting we had at @ciimar.bsky.social in June 2023. 🙌 to this awesome All-Atlantic & Mediterranean consortium with 10 partners +7 associate partners, and over 60 researchers! Since then the #sponge science (and fun) has never stopped 😊 . @biodiversa.eu