Alex Mustard / Yellow tube sponge (Aplysina fistularis) on coral reef, diver exploring in background. Black Rock Drop Off, East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies. Model released.

Gary Bell/ Oceanwide / Piling with sponges, tunicates, and ascidians, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, Australia

Alex Mustard / Yellow tube sponge (Aplysina fistularis) on a coral reef, with the camera rotated during the long exposure. East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. British West Indies. Caribbean Sea.

Alex Mustard / Spotlight goby (Gobiosoma louisae) looking out from inside a Yellow tube sponge (Aplysina fistularis), growing on a coral reef. Bloody Bay Wall, Little Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies. Car...

Olga Kamenskaya / Endemic freshwater sponge (Lubomirskia baicalensis), Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia. October.

Olga Kamenskaya / Endemic sponge (Lubomirskia baicalensis), Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia. September 2013

Alex Mustard / Yellow tube sponges (Aplysina fistularis) growing on a Caribbean coral reef. Cayman Brac, Cayman Islands. Caribbean Sea.

Georgette Douwma / Stove-pipe sponge (Aplysina archeri) Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean.

Georgette Douwma / Row pore rope sponge (Aplysina cauliformis) Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean.

Georgette Douwma / Stove-pipe sponge (Aplysina archeri) and Orange elephant ear sponge (Agelas clathrodes) Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean.

Olga Kamenskaya / Diver with Baikal sponges (Lubomirskia baicalensis). Lake Baikal, Russia, March 2007. Model released.

Alex Mustard / A long exposure renders Bar jacks (Carangoides ruber) as ghostly trails as they swim around a sponge, on a coral reef, at night. East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Overall winner of GDT competiti...