The glass sponge is a deep-sea animal with a skeleton made of silica that looks almost like delicate glass 🪸🌊. These sponges live on the ocean floor in cold, nutrient-rich waters and build intricate lattice-like structures from silica spicules that filter tiny particles from the water as they feed. Some species, like the Venus’s flower basket, form beautiful tubular homes that even host small shrimp inside. Scientists find them fascinating because many of their cells are fused into networks ra