Living Magic Carpet? New Technicolor Deep-Sea Worm Species Identified 50 Kilometers Off Costa Rica Pacific Coast

A new rosy-colored deep-sea worm species has been discovered by scientists 50 kilometers off Costa Rica's Pacific coast.

New Technicolor Deep-Sea Worm Species

The deep-sea worm, which is now called Pectinereis strickrotti, is a kind of Nereididae, or ragworm. Researchers first spotted the species in 2009 when they were exploring a methane seep 1,000 meters deep aboard the Alvin deep-sea submersible.

Then, in 2019, the team went back to the sea area and found six more of these worms. The researchers were able to take videos, shots, and samples necessary for the formal classification of the new species. Their findings were described in the "A remarkable new deep-sea nereidid (Annelida: Nereididae) with gills" study.

The worm has an elongated and segmented body with a length of roughly 10 centimeters. Similar to other ragworms, this worm appears like a cross of an earthworm and centipede. The creature also dwells in marine settings, similar to other ragworms. However, P. strickrotti dwells in the deep sea, as opposed to shallower waters.

P. strickrotti has some feather-like outgrowths, known as parapodia, on each of its sides. It's tipped with gills that enable oxygen absorption from water.

The species also has some pincer-shaped jaws hidden in it that can thrust out when they must catch prey for consumption. However, scientists are not yet familiar with what diets of these worms comprise.

The worm has a snake-like appearance when it swims. It makes several turns and curves as it moves in the water. Bruce Strickrott, the lead pilot for the Alvin submersible and who the name of the species is based on, shares that the worm had a graceful movement. Strickrott expresses further that the worm looked like a living magic carpet of some sort.

New Species Found in Methane Seeps

The team was able to find roughly 450 species at Costa Rica's methane seeps since 2009. Among these species, 48 are newly discovered ones.

Methane seeps are regions where methane bubbles escape from sediments or rocks over the sea floor. They can host ecosystems of various animals that consume food that methane-eating bacteria consume.

Marine Biologist Greg Rouse, a co-author of the study from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, explains that they have been spending years attempting to describe and name biodiversity in the deep sea.

Rouse shares that at this point, the new species that they have found goes beyond the time that they have for identification. This reveals the extent of undiscovered biodiversity.

The team plans to explore the sea later this year with hopes of coming across more discoveries in the deep-sea methane seeps off Chile and Alaska's coasts.

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