Amazing new creatures discovered 1.7 miles under the ocean (Pictures)

Researchers at the University of Southampton have found six new animal species living near undersea hot vents 1.7 miles below the Indian Ocean, according to a new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The strange marine life was found around hydrothermal vents at a place known as Longqi (‘Dragon’s Breath’), about 1,200 miles southeast of Madagascar.

The study team had been exploring a location the size of a football stadium, identifying the locations of greater than a dozen mineral spires referred to as ‘vent chimneys’. These spires, several of which rise over 20 feet above the seabed, are loaded with copper and gold, which is now luring interest for future seafloor mining. However, the spires are also covered in deep-sea animals, nurtured by hot nutrient-rich fluids streaming out of the chimneys.

The team conducted genetic reviews to indicate that quite a number species at Longqi are not yet identified.

Finding New Creatures on the Sea Floor

The expedition, which happened in November 2011, supplies new details regarding what lives on the ocean floor in this location, which is registered for mineral exploration by the International Seabed Authority of the United Nations, before any mining surveys are conducted.

The Longqi vents are the first identified in the area and the expedition was the first to investigate them using a deep-diving remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

The deep-sea animals that are exclusive to Longqi include: a hairy ‘Hoff’ crab, which is related to ‘Hoff’ crabs at Antarctic vents; two species of snail; a kind of limpet; a species of scaleworm and another kind of deep-sea worm. Aside from one species of snail dubbed Gigantopelta aegis, most newly found species have not yet been officially described.

“We can be certain that the new species we’ve found also live elsewhere in the southwest Indian Ocean, as they will have migrated here from other sites, but at the moment no-one really knows where, or how well-connected their populations are with those at Longqi,” study author Jon Copley, a marine ecologist from the University of Southampton, said in a news release. “Our results highlight the need to explore other hydrothermal vents in the southwest Indian Ocean and investigate the connectivity of their populations, before any impacts from mineral exploration activities and future deep-sea mining can be assessed.”

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Image credit: David Shale

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