Scientists who further investigated the biodiversity of this region accidentally captured on video and photo species of deep-sea creatures that may not yet have been known to science.
Unusual sea creatures became the object of scientists' attention during an expedition to the Clarion-Clipperton zone in the Pacific Ocean, writes Success in UA.
Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. These are rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. Just imagine, only 5% of them have been investigated by humans! Therefore, every dive of scientists to the depths can be accompanied by another stunning discovery. This is what happened to a team of scientists led by Dr Adrian Glover from London's Natural History Museum.
The expedition to Clarion-Clipperton aimed to investigate the biological diversity of the area. There are huge quantities of "sea potatoes" that contain the precious metals needed for the green revolution. However, this region is poorly studied and the task of scientists was to better examine it. During their dive, they noticed very strange-looking creatures. For example, some of the most unusual were: rat-tailed fish (Rattail fish), pink Barbie pigs (Barbie pig), sea pigs (Sea Pig) and others.
"We can assume that many of the creatures seen will be new species to science," said marine biologist Regen Drennan of London's NHM.
The research was carried out at a depth of 4000-5000 meters below the surface of the central Pacific Ocean as part of the SMARTEX project.
Interestingly, the rattail fish is one of the few vertebrates that can survive at great depths, and the bizarre nickname for the hot pink "Barbie pig" was coined by Southampton graduate student Bethany Fleming after the team watched the film on a plane to Costa Rica.
All collected specimens of animals were transferred to the museum for further study and identification.
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