Astonishing photos of potential new species from the Pacific seabed

THESE mysterious deep-sea organisms are among the 55 specimens of marine life recovered from the seabed of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Pacific Ocean, 39 of which may be species new to science.

The area is of interest for deep-sea mining due to its rich mineral deposits. The team on the DeepCCZ expedition, which made the finds, used a remotely operated vehicle to scout out the zone’s biodiversity and ecosystems. The work may be used to manage mining activities in the future.

“This research is important, not only due to the number of potentially new species discovered, but because these… specimens have previously only been studied from seabed images,” said Guadalupe Bribiesca-Contreras at the Natural History Museum, London, who led the study of the samples, which has just been published.

The image above hows an adult crinoid, a relative of starfish and sea urchins that is a member of the family Antedonidae. Known as feather stars, these creatures have feathery arms that they can use to capture food.

Below is a species of deep-sea sea cucumber called Oneirophanta mutabilis. This individual comes in at 16 centimetres long. Both are potential new species, as is the glass sponge of the sub-family Bolosominae, which can be seen bottom left, anchored to the sediment before it is collected.

Among the other sea cucumber species recovered are the translucent Peniagone vitrea pictured below

and below Peniagone leander, which was damaged during collection.