Source: SFGate
“After an initial sighting almost a quarter century ago, scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have revealed a deep-sea discovery for the ages. On Monday, MBARI researchers announced the existence of an entirely new species of sea slug that lives in the deep waters off Monterey Bay known as the ‘midnight zone’. Introduced to the world formally as Bathydevius caudactylus, the translucent creature glides around in the darkest depths of the Earth, thousands of feet beneath the water’s surface. This seemingly alien form, nicknamed the ‘mystery mollusc’ by researchers, features ‘a large gelatinous hood and paddle-like tail, and lights up with brilliant bioluminescence.’ ‘When we spot something like that — we don’t know what it is and never seen anything like it before — it’s always exciting,’ MBARI senior scientist Bruce Robison told SFGATE from his Monterey lab Tuesday.” (11/14/24)