Jar Sponge

+| Property | Value |+| :--- | :--- |+| **Type** | Anchored |+| **Category** | Sponges |+ +The **Jar Sponge** (*Symphon pithos*) is an unimplemented lifeform in Subnautica 2. It is classified as an anchored sponge.+ +## Databank Entry+ +**Symphon pithos**, the large jar sponge. A filter-feeder that produces antibiotics and other chemicals in bulk. Possibly a runaway crop.+ +### 1. Sponge morphology+Like both Protean and Earth sponges, it is a simple animal without organs. It pumps water in through pores and out through its central aperture, filtering nutrients.+ +### 2. Pharmacological factory+A single strain of symbiotic bacteria produces potent antibiotics which kill other microbes. The sponge itself uses genes apparently transferred from extinct symbiotes to produce large amounts of a single chemical—such as antibiotics, resins, plastics, or steroids. This chemical product pools in the jar's center.+ +### 3. Runaway crop?+The jar sponge's wide, accessible aperture and pure chemical product suggest it may be a crop.+ +### 4. Alternative hypothesis+The jar sponge may have been selected by a forager which tended to destroy smaller or less chemically productive sponges.+ +**Assessment:** a possible sign of re-wilding after the collapse of agriculture.+ +**Trivia:** In the original Greek, the myth of Pandora's box actually refers to a *pithos* (jar).