New species of jellyfish and other creatures discovered in Atlantic ocean
- Published
Look at this beautiful red jellyfish. It's an 'undescribed species', which means it has never been given a specific name because it was unknown to scientists until now. It was found floating around nearly 2,300 feet (701m) below the surface during the dive by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US.
What is this unusual creature? Well its full name is Bathocyroe fosteri ctenophores. Ctenophora, also known as comb jellies, are animals with no backbone that live in marine waters around the world. This was the most common organism found during the dive.
This is a helmet jellyfish which was found at a depth of 700 metres. This red-coloured jellyfish uses bioluminescence to scare off predators. Bioluminescence is when living things make and give off their own lights. Lots of sea creatures, bacteria and some insects, like fireflies, use it.
How amazing is this juvenile rattail fish? Living in the deep sea where there is no sunlight means it can be hard to find food, but these rattail fish have big eyes to help them see prey.
During the dive this larvacean house was seen. Larvaceans are solitary, free-swimming tiny marine animals that make a fragile mucus house to help filter small particles from the water.
This is physonect siphonophore. It may look like this siphonophore is one single wormy fish, but in fact they are made up of individual hydrozoans - very small animals that live in salt water - which each have a different function such as swimming, feeding and defence.
- Published2 March 2021
- Published11 August 2021
- Published11 August 2021