With four eyes, long legs and claws, a new species of sea spider has been discovered lurking in the icy depths of Antarctica.
Researchers stumbled upon the creature, known as Austropallene halanychi, when they set a trawl net in the Ross Sea, a giant bay 200 miles from the South Pole, according to a study published in the journal ZooKeys.
In January 2013, scientists aboard the RVIB ship Nathaniel B. Palmer pulled out the net and realized that the unique specimen, which was collected about 1,900 feet underwater, did not fit any existing description.
It was much larger than other sea spiders, with legs measuring nearly 1.2 inches, with “four darkly pigmented eyes, a short “swollen” abdomen, and a “crown” of bristles surrounding its mouth, according to the study.
One of its most distinctive features is its arm-like appendages, known as cheliphores, which are “powerful” and “relatively large.”
Researchers discovered the creature, known as Austropallene halanychi, in Antarctica. Zehnpfennig and Mahon/ZooKeys The tips of their claws are blackened. Zehnpfennig and Mahón/ZooKeys
They also have an “oblong” scape and a claw, which has two fingers, one fixed and the other mobile. The two fingers close together, so “there is no space between the fingers.” The tips of its claws are blackened.
Like other sea spiders, Austropallene halanychi’s vital organs are located in its legs. They even use their legs to breathe, study co-author Andrew Mahon told McClatchy News.
Sea spiders mate through the pores on their legs, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the specimen had “large” ovigers, the male organ of the sea spider that carries eggs released by females.
The creature was found in the Ross Sea, a giant bay 200 miles from the South Pole. AdobeStock
The creatures eat through a long proboscis, and that of the Austropallene halanychi measures 0.1 inch, similar to a straw.
The newly discovered specimen is named after Kenneth M. Halanych, a “prolific marine invertebrate scientist.” His LinkedIn profile shows that Halanych is the executive director of the Marine Science Center at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn