Like an alien grocery bag with entrails made from glowing Cheetos, a bizarre creature took center stage in new footage captured by a remote-controlled vehicle deep in the Pacific Ocean.
Gliding through the sea at a depth of some 7,221 feet (2,201 meters), the ocean weirdo — actually an unknown species of sea cucumber — had its guts on display in the new clip, taken in March by an ROV crossing part of the Pacific. Remote explores Islands Marine National Monument southeast of Honolulu. The ROV was gliding over an unexplored seamount near Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll when operators spotted the creature, said Megan Cook, the director of education and outreach at The Ocean Exploration Trust’s Nautilus Live†
“These are always so exciting and spectacular to watch because — just, what an incredible animal,” Cook told Live Science.
Sea cucumbers, or holothurians, are a diverse group, with many species scattered throughout the central Pacific Ocean, Cook said. The specimen spotted by the ROV, paired with the crew of the research vessel E/V Nautilus, belongs to a family called Elpidiidae, she said. These deep-sea cucumbers are scavengers that feed on sea snow, a shower of skin cells, poo and bits of dead animals that filter to the ocean floor.
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Many species in the family Elpidiidae have appendages that look like fins or sails that allow them to swim short distances. This is a useful adaptation that allows the sea cucumbers to cover more ground and seek new pasturage, Cook said.
To eat, the animal drips across the seafloor and uses its sticky tentacles — the leaf- or star-shaped red rim around its mouth — to pick up a mixture of sand and organic matter, which it then carries to its mouth. The bright orange gut — the glowing “Cheetos” — seen inside the transparent creature then digests the organic matter and excretes the inedible sand.
This appears to be an important storage system for carbon† The ocean floor is the largest carbon sequestration system in the world Soilwhere carbon-rich organic matter is scooped up by bottom dwellers such as sea cucumbers and remains deep in the ocean for long periods of time.
“They’re this great seafloor scavenger/recycler,” Cook said of the deep-sea cucumbers.
Some sea cucumber species can expel their digestive systems through their anus when startled, a method that often allows them to escape hungry predators. (The organs grow back quickly.) It’s unknown, though, whether the species in the new video has that trick up its sleeve (or its anus), Cook said.
The EV Nautilus is livestreaming its ROV dives and the current season will run until the end of October. The team will continue to explore the Central Pacific, including many unexplored spots in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and its environs. Viewers can follow on Twitter @EVNautiluson Instagram at @NautilusLiveon TikTok @NautilusLiveon Facebook @NautilusLive or on YouTube at /EVNautilus†
“Our next ROV dives will be to Johnston Atoll, one of the most remote atolls in the world,” Cook said.
Originally published on Live Science.
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