New footage showing a giant, strange-looking sea creature floating in the depths of the Pacific Ocean has left researchers wondering if it is a new species.
A team of scientists spotted a strange animal while on board the E/V Nautilus, a research vessel. The expedition researchers oohed and aahed as they saw the strange creature in the video. One of the scientists on board can be heard saying off-camera, "My mind is blown right now," as the boat's remotely operated vehicle scanned the ocean floor. Another scientist said that he wasn't on the edge of his seat.
The scientists weren't able to record video of the second individual, but they spied another odd creature nearby.
The creature looked like a flower that was roughly the size of the ROV with its long, thin, and barbed tentacles. It was spotted on July 7 near a previously unexplored seamount in the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii.
It was thought that they had crossed paths with Solumbellula monocephalus, also known as a Solumbellula sea pen. Sea pens have only been seen in the Atlantic and Indian oceans, so it's possible that the scientists stumbled upon a new species.
There are weird creatures in the deep sea.
Steve Auscavitch, the expedition's lead researcher and a deep-sea biologist, described the sight as fascinating.
He told Live Science that "from time to time, we come across something that we never expected to see."
He said that they were near the end of their cruise when they saw the twosea pens. The one we captured on video was large and similar to Hercules. I knew what the sea pen was when I watched the video.
Biologists on the shore helped confirm that it was a sea pen. He can't give a specific age, but based on the animal's large size, he surmised that it was older. At five or six years of age, sea pens can live for more than 10 years.
He said that Solumbellula monocephalus had never been seen in the central Pacific.
The Spanish scientists named two new genera of sea pens: Pseudumbellula and Solumbellula. The findings were published in the journal invertebrate Systematics.
More research is needed to determine if this is the first Pacific Solumbellula monocephalus or a new species.
He said that findings like this are rare. We come across these things from time to time, and it really expands our horizon about where animals can live and exist in the deep sea.
It was originally published on Live Science
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