Science

California Researchers Discover Mysterious New Sea Slug

Monterey Bay Aquarium and Research Institute via AP
A mystery mollusk (Bathydevius caudactylus) observed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Research Institute’s remotely operated vehicle, is seen in the outer Monterey Canyon at a depth of approximately 1,810 meters in this undated photo.

12:22 JST, November 20, 2024

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — More than two decades after spotting a mysterious, gelatinous, bioluminescent creature swimming in the deep sea, California researchers last 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 mollusk in February 2000 at a depth of 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 Nov. 12.

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.