Spotted in 2016 and 2017, the E.T. sponge was discovered by Cristiana Castello Branco, a post-doctoral researcher at NOAA Fisheries’ Systematics Laboratory at the National Museum of Natural History.
One of the best things about the E.T. sponge is that its scientific name, advhena magnifica, literally captures what the scientists thought when they first saw it. Advhena magnifica means “magnificent ...