New Species Discovered in Arctic Ocean
03.09.2009 - Water & Oceans, Flora & Fauna, Other, Arctic
Details of research conducted by an international team of scientists using a remote operated vehicle (ROV) who filmed various kinds of jellyfish and other similar animals in the depths of the isolated Arctic Ocean back in 2005 have recently been published in the journal Deep Sea Research Part II.
The filming was conducted by an international team of scientists using a remote operated vehicle (ROV) filmed over 50 different types of jellyfish and similar animals at depths of up to 3000 metres. Funded primarily by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, the team was able to discover some species of jellyfish. In fact, one of the most common animals the depths of the parts of the Arctic Ocean they surveyed turns out to be completely new to science.
The species that were filmed featured primarily Medusae, (a particular type of jellyfish that tends to be bell or disc shaped) but also included stenophores, (an unusual group that look like jellyfish, but are not able to sting), siphonophores (actually colonies of smaller animals living together in a structure that looks like a single, larger animal) and larvaceans (plankton-like creatures).
The two most common species of Medusae found in the areas filmed were Sminthea arctica, a species living at depths between 100 and 2,100 metres, and a small, blue jellyfish belonging to a group known as Narcomedusae. The main feature setting the newly discovered species apart from other jellyfish is that they hold their tentacles out in front as they swim. Due to its uniqueness, the new species has been temporarily classified within its own genus pending formal description.
Another find of the study was a type of ctenophore called Aulacoctena, which has tentacles over 15cm long and has the ability to grab almost anything underwater.
With scientific interest in these new species growing, scientists are now trying to raise funds for more in-depth exploration of the deep Arctic Ocean and the Aleutian trench off the coast of Alaska.
