A new study has described 14 new marine worms, molluscs and crustaceans from all over the world, as well as shedding light on several known sea creatures.
One of the most fascinating discoveries was found on the body of a tusk shell, or tooth shell (known as Laevidentalium wiesei), a type of marine mollusc with a long, tapering outer structure that it uses for protection. It was a sea anemone, clinging to the anterior (concave) side of the tusk shell.
Published in the Biodiversity Data Journal, the study authors believe this is the first time an interaction of this kind has ever been reported in the mollusc genus Laevidentalium. The team say the finding highlights how much we still don’t know about animals in the ocean.
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The new study analysed a whole collection of marine species as part of the Ocean Species Discoveries project, which aims to accelerate the timeline between the initial discovery of a new species and its official identification.
So, aside from the hitchhiking sea anemone, what else did the researchers find?
The deepest-living animal they analysed was a new species of mollusc known as Veleropilina gretchenae, found 6,465 metres beneath the surface in the Aleutian Trench, an oceanic canyon that runs along the southern coastline of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.
They also described a new species of carnivorous bivalve (Myonera aleutiana), found between 5,170–5,280 metres. Using a non-invasive micro-CT scanning technique, the team captured over 2,000 incredibly detailed images of the animal's internal tissues and soft-body parts. It's only the second time a bivalve species has been studied in this way.
A small, shrimp-like crustacean, found 2,602 metres deep on a mussel bed at the Galápagos Rift hydrothermal vent in the Pacific Ocean, was identified as a new species of amphipod (Apotectonia senckenbergae).
Perhaps the most bizarre-looking creature to be described was a species of parasitic isopod (Zeaione everta), discovered in the Australian intertidal zone. In the study, the researchers report strange protrusions on the female’s back that resemble pieces of popcorn.
The study, which involved over 20 researchers, reports on the second major collection in the Ocean Species Discoveries project, coordinated by the Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA), a project of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt.
"Our shared vision is making taxonomy faster, more efficient, more accessible and more visible," say the team in their paper.
Top image: Deep-sea environment. Credit: Getty
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