California researchers discover mysterious, gelatinous new sea slug

2024-12-25 09:58:25 source:lotradecoin scam prevention tips category:My

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — More than two decades after spotting a mysterious, gelatinous, bioluminescent creature swimming in the deep sea, California researchers this week announced that it is a new species of sea slug.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute posted video online of the new sea slug floating gently in the depths.

Using a remote vehicle, scientists with the institute first noticed what they called a “mystery mollusc” in February 2000 at a depth of 8,576 feet (2,614 meters) in the Pacific.

“With a voluminous hooded structure at one end, a flat tail fringed with numerous finger-like projections at the other, and colorful internal organs in between, the team initially struggled to place this animal in a group,” the institute said in a statement Tuesday.

After reviewing more than 150 sightings of the creature and studying it in a lab, researchers determined it was a new type of nudibranch, or sea slug. It lives in the so-called midnight zone, an area of deep ocean known for “frigid temperatures, inky darkness, and crushing pressure,” the statement said.

The findings were published in the journal Deep-Sea Research Part I.

More:My

Recommend

Morgan Wallen sentenced after pleading guilty in Nashville chair

Morgan Wallen pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment, reduced from the th

Want to live near your state's top schools? Prepare to pay $300,000 more for your house.

The high cost of education begins long before kids start college, a new study shows.When parents loo

Kroger, Albertsons — still hoping to merge — agree to sell more stores to satisfy regulators

Supermarket chains Kroger and Albertsons said Monday they will sell more of their stores in an effor