Students and staff at the UNCW center for marine science are part of research projects to protect and learn about coral reefs ...

Sponge reefs were common on Earth millions of years ago but were only known from fossil records. For paleontologists, the find was akin to running across a herd of apatosauruses in an unexplored ...

Coral reefs provide an important ecosystem for marine life, offering food and shelter among their crevices and branches for animals including fishes, molluscs, sea urchins and sponges. Corals are ...

They say that, despite their distinction as one of Earth’s oldest lifeforms and the "key" role they play in sustaining coral reef ecosystems, marine sponges are vastly understudied. KÄ ne ...