The ocean is said to be the world's biggest mysterious treasure chest. From 130,000 BC to present, only 20% of the planet's waters have been explored while 80% remains to be uncharted, mysterious, and unexplored.
Out of the explored part of the oceans, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) states that only 9% of the species have been classified, making the total number of species in the ocean to be unknown.
Explorations are being done including recent efforts to gather the data on the census of marine life. The most recent discovery to date is a 45-tentacled deep-sea lurker which is said to have roamed the bottom of the seas from 430 million years ago
As the fossilized remains were analyzed, scientists have found out that the creature is an ancient relative of the sea cucumber.
The newly discovered ophiocistioid was given the name Sollasina cthulhu, as it resembled H.P. Lovecraft's tentacled Great Old One, a character he wrote into life. However, unlike the massive tentacled character, the newly discovered Sollasina Cthulhu fossil is only about an inch in width.
According to the researchers, its 45 "tube feet" extend to every direction around its body. This trait makes the creature look bigger when under water. The creature uses the 45 tentacles to creep along the ocean floor, snatch up food, and of course, to terrify its predators. Each of the tubular appendages is covered with a sort of protective armor.
Imran Rahman of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, who is also the lead author of the paper, points out that the fossilized discovery belongs to the extinct group called the ophiocistioids. Until the discovery of the tiny cthulu, there has been no information on the internal structures of the ophiocistioid group.
Yale paleontologist Derek Briggs, a co-author of the study, pointed out that echinoderms commonly have naked tube feet. However, the ophiocistioids, which are actually a type of extinct echinoderms, have plated tube feet. This lead to a hypothesis that ophiocistioids evolved away from the line that supposedly leads to sea cucumber species. Echinoderms include sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and sea stars.
Reconstructing the fossil entailed grinding the fossil away, one thin layer after another. Photographs were taken to document each layer of information. Using this method, the scientists were able to take a detailed look at the tiny beast's innards. This process also revealed a ring canal, a circular tube central to the vascular system. This proved that the Sollasina Cthulhu did not use muscles to move around, rather, it used hydraulic movements.
