CRINOID STIMULATED DEEP SEA EXPLORATION

In 1864, a Norwegian surveying vessel secured a crinoid from a depth of 3,109 m. The crinoid is an echinoderm, which is related to starfish, and the discovery made biologists recognize that the deep sea included life that was worth taking a closer look at. The discovery of the crinoid inspired the English Challenger expedition, the world’s first real deep sea expedition, which took place in 1872-1876, bringing back 4,417 new animal species. Crinoids can grow on the ocean floor at depths of down to 8 km.