MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — More than two decades after spotting a mysterious gelatinous, bioluminescent creature swimming in the deep sea, California researchers announced this week that it is a new species of sea slug.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute posted a video online of the sea slug floating gently in the depths.
Using a remote rover, scientists at the institute first noticed what they called a “mystery mollusk” in February 2000 at a depth of 2,614 meters (8,576 feet) in the Pacific.
“With a bulky, hood-like structure on one end, a flat tail bordered with numerous finger-like projections on the other, and colorful internal organs in the middle, the team initially struggled to classify this animal into a group,” said the institute in a statement Tuesday.
After reviewing more than 150 sightings of the creature and studying it in a laboratory, researchers determined it was a new type of nudibranch, or sea slug. It lives in the so-called midnight zone, an area of the deep ocean known for “frigid temperatures, pitch-black darkness, and crushing pressure,” according to the statement.
The findings were published in the journal Deep-Sea Research Part I.
Originally Published: November 14, 2024 at 7:18 AM PST
