In the dark, icy waters of Antarctica, a group of scientists and explorers have discovered a new marine speciesan invertebrate with 20 arms, pale and, for many, reminiscent of one of the creatures in the movie Alien.
Anyone who has seen the film remembers the scene and the “monster”: a horrifying creature without eyes or mouth, similar to a crab or a spider that inserts a kind of tentacle into the mouths of its victims, sticks to their faces and consumes them. slowly.
But to the researchers of the expedition that discovered it, the marine species named Promachocrinus fragarius, it reminds them more of a strawberry because of the shape of the base where the tentacles join. Hence the affectionate nickname of “antarctic strawberry feather starfish” that they have given him.
THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW SPECIES
Leaving aside its mysterious appearance, something that has caught the attention of the scientific community and readers is the unusual morphological structure of this creature. Its size, strength and 20 arms, some of them rough and bumpy, others soft and feathery, remind to octopuses and jellyfish, but its habits, diet and swimming style make it more related to marine invertebrates such as starfish and sea cucumbers.
The research, published in and coordinated by Professor Greg Rouse of the University of Californiain San Diego, United States, together with scientists and explorers Emily McLaughlin and Nerid Wilson, also includes information on four other new species that could be described as part of the starfish family, all living at depths between 20 and 2,000 meters in the icy Antarctic Ocean. Fascinating, right?
Scary and fascinating! Scientists discover “alien” fish in Antarctica