New Deep-Sea Predator Found in Atacama Trench

Karmactive Staff

Photo Source: Rawpixel

A third of the entire earth’s surface is composed of water bodies, also known as the hydrosphere, where oceans take up the most space.

There are five oceans and all of them are home to numerous unresolved mysteries and a new discovery about oceans is made every other day.

Photo Source: Gokce Erem (pexels)

Photo Source: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Recently, a predatory amphipod was discovered eight thousand meters in depth of the Pacific Ocean, the creature is called by the name of Dulcibella camanchaca.

The creature is found usually seven thousand meters or more below the ocean depths in the freezing temperatures and this recent discovery took place in the Atacama trench.

Photo Source: Systematics and Biodiversity, Volume 22, 2024 - Issue 1 (Taylor and Francis)

Photo Source: @WHOI (X formerly Twitter)

The creature Dulcibella lives in the darkness of the ocean and has been named after the colloquial word for “darkness”.

The creature predates from the darkness and are fast swimmers, upon discovering they were frozen and underwent detailed analysis.

Photo Source: Rawpixel

Photo Source: Carlos Educardo Joo (CC BY-2.0)

This discovery proves how deep exploration of oceans is required especially in the front yard of Chile, the place Dulcibella was first found.

Deep sea marine life, especially the invertebrates, are extremely resourceful for producing substances that help in medicines for cancer, inflammation, antibiotics and so on.

Photo Source: Ocean Explorer (NOAA)

Photo Source: NASA

Oceans are so huge and hold so much mysterious information that NASA too has funded several studies that involve deep-sea exploration.

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