Josh Milton is an award-nominated senior reporter specialising in technology, science and LGBTQ+ rights. He covers everything from alien and space to trans healthcare and the struggles of queer asylum seekers, with the odd bit of breaking news in-between.
![Carnivorous ?Death-Ball? Sponge Among 30 New Deep-Sea Species from the Southern Ocean Oxford, UK ? [29 October, 2025] ? Thirty previously unknown deep-sea species, including a carnivorous ?death-ball? sponge, have been confirmed from one of the most remote parts of the planet by The Nippon Foundation?Nekton Ocean Census and collaborators. The discoveries follow two 2025 research cruises with Schmidt Ocean Institute and were verified at the Southern Ocean Species Discovery Workshop hosted by Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile (August 2025). With Halloween on the horizon, a standout discovery is a new predatory sponge (Chondrocladia sp. nov.). Its spherical form is covered in tiny hooks that trap prey, a clear contrast to the gentle, passive, filter-feeding undertaken by most sponges. ?Zombie worms? (Osedax sp.) were also observed. Although not thought to be new to science, these worms have no mouth or gut and rely on symbiotic bacteria to break down fats inside the bones of whales and other large vertebrates.](/cats-d8c4vu/metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/SEI_273825465-f7c6.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646&h=363&crop=1)
