Discover

Today
Animals
Explore
Archive
Search

Use it

Classroom
Resources
Field lab
Quiz
Saved

Trust

Methodology
Sources
Corrections
Accessibility
Contributors

Details

About
Contact
Privacy
Terms
Newsletter

Animal profile

Venus' Flower Basket

Euplectella aspergillum

HexactinellidaDeep-sea soft sediment in the western Pacific, generally below several hundred metres

Field profile

A glass sponge whose silica spicules fuse into an intricate hollow lattice tube anchored in sediment by a tuft of fibres. The dried skeleton is a rigid white cylinder of woven glass. Its structure has been studied extensively by materials engineers.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-08-10

Venus' Flower Basket

A shrimp pair lives inside for life

Juvenile shrimp enter the sponge's glass lattice through gaps too small for adults. Once grown, a male and female cannot leave, and the dried skeleton with its trapped pair was traditionally given as a wedding gift in Japan.

Read with evidence →

Venus' Flower Basket | Daily Animal Facts