- Deep-sea dwellers: Discovery of Casper squid and sea cucumber
During an exploration, around 20 new creature types might've been unearthed throughout an underwater mountain chain near South America's coast. The Schmidt Ocean Institute has unveiled that they managed to film a live Promachoteuthis octopus-like creature for the first time. Moreover, a new submerged mountain was traced, towering over three kilometers high and playing host to a bustling deep-sea environment.
A Casper octopus was spotted for the first time in the southern Pacific, as per the institute. Moreover, a pair of uncommon Bathyphysa jellyfish, fondly called 'flying spaghetti monsters,' were seen.
Grinning slug-like creatures
The team used an underwater robotic device to scan a 800 square meter meadow of deep-sea corals on one of the mountains. This teeming habitat was brimming with organisms like rockfish, brittle stars, and king crabs. Additionally, they collected images of peculiar-looking sea slugs named Chaunacops. The seamounts of the southeastern Pacific provide a unique habitat for an astounding variety of species not found elsewhere, the team noted.
Vast life diversity
A group of marine scientists from the Schmidt Ocean Institute ventured into a part of the Chile Ridge, a deep-sea mountain range that appears at the border of two diverging tectonic plates. These findings further prove the extraordinary diversity of the ecosystems there, stated Tomer Ketter of the Schmidt Ocean Institute.
Valparaíso and the surrounding area could be an intriguing destination for scuba divers, given the abundance of unique marine life discovered near the underwater mountain chain. The peculiar-looking sea slugs, known as Chaunacops, were discovered in one of the teeming coral habitats in the seamounts of the southeastern Pacific, which is a part of Valparaíso's surrounding area.
