DEEPEND Project joins forces with SponBIODIV for an Sponge Identification & Training Workshop

During March 4th-8^th of 2024 some members of the SponBIODIV consortium and collaborators had the opportunity to travel to the National Oceanographic Centre (NOC) to develop a workshop on sponge taxonomy, with the double aim of providing improved identifications to already collected samples, as well as training for the DEEPEND project and NOC personnel for future sponge identification.  During the course of the week, sponbiodivers and NOC personnel worked hand in hand to classify over 200 sponge samples from around the world, including the Clarion Clipperton Zone, the Mid Atlantic Ridge, the Haig Fras and Whittard Canyon, the Crozet Islands and last, but not least, the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. Other than an amazing week for all attendees, this workshop also leaves us with many new records and potential new species to be described in the near future!

The Sponge Identification & Training Workshop was part of DEEPEND (DEEPEND: Deep-ocean resources and biodiscovery), a project funded by the UK DEFRA Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate Programme.  The DEEPEND project is a collaborative effort to study the societal value of biodiversity in the deep-sea.