In one of the samples collected via the MAREANO programme, we found something strange. We found a bryozoa that looked very similar to the common and well-known species Membranipora membranacea (coffin box bryozoan).
The problem? M. membranacea is known to inhabit shallow waters (from about 0 to 30 metres). This one here? It was collected at a depth of 350 metres! So there might be something mysterious going on here.
We have selected parts of this sample for DNA sequencing, so hopefully we will get an answer as to exactly what this is at some point!