‘Gummy squirrel’ among robots’ deep sea discoveries

ROBOTS have discovered 39 potential new species at the bottom of the ocean.

Researchers at the Natural History Museum said the undescribed organisms represented a fraction of the undiscovered species from the deep, which scientists are working to understand.

A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) allowed the samples – collected from the Clarion-clipperton Zone in the central Pacific – to be brought to the surface. This enabled scientists to get a much better idea of the organisms living at depths of 10,000ft (almost two miles) to 16,500ft below sea level.

In the past animals from this area had only been studied in photographs.

Remarkably, 48 of the 55 specimens recovered were different species, and only nine of these had been previously discovered.

Much of the life at the bottom of the ocean is a mystery to scientists, and is undisturbed by humans because it is so hard to reach.

Researchers say that while it is known that tiny millimetre-sized creatures (macrofauna) are extremely biodiverse in the depths of the ocean, there has not been a lot of information about larger animals (megafauna), and the findings indicate this group could also be very diverse.

Dr Guadalupe Bribiesca-contreras, the lead author on the study, said: “This research is important not only due to the number of potentially new species discovered, but because these megafauna specimens have previously only been studied from seabed images.

“Without the specimens and the DNA data they hold, we cannot properly identify the animals and understand how many different species there are.”

Among the samples were starfish, sea cucumbers, and marine invertebrates. One of the discoveries is a new type of psychropotes longicauda, a sea cucumber known as the gummy squirrel.

Dr Adrian Glover, leader of the museum’s deep sea research group, added: “This study is the first to suggest that diversity may be very high in megafauna groups.”

The findings are published in the journal Zookeys.