Scientists Identify Deep Water Drop as New Species Using Only Video | Environment

Scientists have for the first time identified a small gelatinous drop in the deep sea as a new species, using only high-definition underwater cameras.

The creature, officially known as Duobrachium sparksae, is a new species of ctenophore, or comb jelly. It was discovered in an underwater canyon northwest of Puerto Rico in April 2015 but has only now been described in a research paper.

No physical specimen of the animal has been collected, but the species has been reported from video taken 3900 meters below the surface during an expedition led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) the United States.

Noaa used a remote-controlled robotic vehicle called the Deep Discoverer to take high-definition images that enabled full blob analysis.

“It was a beautiful and unique organism,” said Mike Ford, a scientist from Noaa Fisheries. “We collected high definition videos and described what we saw. We went through the historical knowledge of ctenophores and it seemed clear that this was also a new species and a new genus. We then worked to place it correctly in the tree of life.

Comb jellies, like Duobrachium sparksae, may be only a few millimeters in length, but are carnivores that eat small arthropods and are able to propel themselves forward by beating rows of hair-like structures found on their surface. Although they look alike, they are not closely related to jellyfish.

Three individuals of the new species have been spotted by the robot diver, puzzling scientists with their unusual behavior. The comb jelly has two long tentacles that appear to anchor it to the seabed and control its position, as it moves like a hot air balloon.

More research will be needed to find out the exact role the new comb jellies play in their environment, but for now the videos will be kept at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC instead of physical specimens.

“Video identification can be controversial,” said Allen Collins, another Noaa scientist who worked on the expedition.

“For example, some descriptions of insect species were made with poor quality images and some scientists said they didn’t think that was the right way to do it. But for this discovery, we had no repression. It was a really good example of how to do this properly with video. “