California researchers discover mysterious, gelatinous new sea slug

More than two decades after spotting a mysterious, gelatinous, bioluminescent creature swimming in the deep sea, researchers from California announced this week that it was a new species of sea slug.

MONTEREY, California — More than two decades after spotting a mysterious, gelatinous, bioluminescent creature swimming in the deep sea, California researchers announced this week that it is a new species of sea slug.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute video posted online of the new sea snail floating gently in the depths.

Using a remote vehicle, scientists at the institute first spotted what they called a “mystery mollusk” at a depth of 2,614 meters in the Pacific Ocean in February 2000.

“With a voluminous structure with a hood at one end, a flat tail lined with numerous finger-like projections at the other end, and colorful internal organs between them, the team initially had difficulty placing this animal in a group,” the institute said in a statement. Tuesday.

After reviewing more than 150 sightings of the creature and studying it in a laboratory, researchers determined it was a new type of slug, or sea slug. It lives in the so-called midnight zone, an area of ​​the deep ocean known for “cold temperatures, inky darkness and crushing pressure,” the statement said.

The findings were published in the journal Deep Sea Research Part I.