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In the depths of the Antarctic Ocean, about 4,000 kilometers from the southwestern coast of Australia, a group of researchers spotted a specimen of "headless chicken monster", a rather marine species. elusive filmed for the first time a year ago. in the Gulf of Mexico. The weird name comes from the appearance reminiscent of a roast chicken, then shaved and deprived of the head. Also known as "headless chicken" and "Spanish dancer", it belongs to the species Enypniastes eximia and belongs to the clbad of echinoderms commonly known as sea cucumbers.
The discovery was made by researchers from the Australian Antarctic Division, a section of the Australian Department of Environment that conducts research in the Antarctic and the Antarctic Ocean. They were working on a project to evaluate the impact of fishing on marine environments, with high definition shooting systems up to 3,000 meters deep. When recording videos, a headless chicken monster appeared for the purpose of a camera, causing a big surprise among the researchers.
Given the scarcity of observations of this type, the researchers initially had no idea what this strange animal was. Unlike most sea cucumbers, the headless chicken monster can exploit small tentacles and a kind of veil to move in the water and escape predators. These animals usually live on the seabed, but can move vertically a thousand meters, for example if they feel threatened.
A headless chicken monster has dimensions ranging from 10 to 25 centimeters: the smaller ones have a bright pink color, while the larger ones are red-brown. The tissues that make up their bodies are extremely thin and transparent, in order to directly observe their bowels. These animals feed on tiny substances on the seabed, bringing them to the mouth with their tentacles. They take an average of one minute to complete a full meal before returning to swimming.
Headless chicken monster specimens live in many areas of the oceans, but given their depth of life and size, it is rare for you to be able to photograph or recover them. Before observation in the Southern Ocean, no one had observed these animals in the south. Their presence could be a good starting point to better understand the composition of ecosystems in this part of the world and to badyze changes due to global warming.
The first sighting of a headless chicken monster dates back to the late nineteenth century. Although more than a century has pbaded, researchers still do not know exactly how many specimens populate the oceans and where they focus the most. Like other species, they are intensively fished and can therefore be a good indicator for understanding the health status of marine habitats.
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