Researchers stumbled upon a Pacific Ocean sea pen for the first time ever. It isn’t actually an animal, but a colony of animals living together.
ShareImage credit: of the Ocean Exploration Trust, NOAA & Oregon State University/Thurber
A recent three-week expedition by NOAA to a previously unexplored stretch of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) recently yielded an amazing find: a colonial cnidarian – one of approximately 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, predominantly the latter.
“At 2,994 meters [9,820 feet] on a never-before-surveyed seamount north of Johnston Atoll, the team spotted an animal for the very first time in the Pacific Ocean,” Ocean Exploration Trust, NOAA, Nautilus Live told IFL Science.
“The sea pen, a colonial cnidarian, had a single large feeding polyp with pinnate (barbed) tentacles stretching over 40 centimeters [16 inches] from its 2-meter-long [6.5-foot] stalk.”
Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) Atalanta and Hercules piloted by the researchers had a chance to witness Solumbellula monocephalus in the flesh for the first time in the Pacific -until now it has only been sighted in the North and South Atlantic and Indian Oceans. But then, are we really talking about the same species? Or is the new sighting suggests a new species? Well, the researchers are still trying to figure out, but it sure makes for one hell of a video.
“With the ROV’s cameras, the team had some beautiful close-ups of this coral relative on an unnamed underwater mountain sedimented saddle,” said Nautilus Live. “We were astounded with a detailed view of its stinging feeding tentacles that capture marine snow and food particles drifting by.”
The scientists discovered not just one but two individuals, indicating that there exists an entire population of these alien creatures in the Pacific Ocean.
As for the sea mounts at this particular site: they are estimated to be between 70 and 100 million years old, and by exploring them, the team at Nautilus Live hope to get a clearer picture of the region’s biodiversity as well as learn how the mounts were actually formed.
