Featured Image Credit: MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)/YouTube
The deep sea is filled with the unknown, and advanced technologies allow us to discover new species that are either horrifying or beautiful - and often times both.
While many associate the uncharted areas of the ocean - which remains still around 80% - to be the dark depths of the sea, occupying grotesque angler fish, ghostsharks, isopods, and more - but what if there was something perhaps a little more 'friendly'?
Thankfully that has taken the form of a new 'mystery mollusk', found unexpectedly in the ocean's midnight zone - between 3,300ft (1,000m) and 13,100ft (4,000m) - which has baffled scientists since its discovery.
The translucent nudibranch, now named 'Bathydevius caudactylus', was discovered by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), and they claim that it's unlike anything they've seen before.
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MBARI recently encountered the unexpected 'clicking' sounds of sperm whales near the coast of San Francisco, yet this 'sighting' lies much further away, near the depths of the ocean floor.
Bathydevius, like most deep sea creatures, has a translucent body that glows with bioluminescence. It's only about as big as an apple, yet features a large gloopy hood and a feather-like tail.
Due to its translucent nature you are also able to observe the internal organs of the 'mystery mollusk', glowing centrally in a soft-orange color that contrasts the wispy blue/white of its ghost-like form.
MBARI initially spotted Bathydevius in February 2000 during a deep dive with Tiburon - their remotely controlled camera vehicle.
Amassing over 150 sightings in the past 20 years, the Institute have now been able to gently collect a sample of the creature and take a closer look in the lab, solving the mystery that has plagued them for over two decades.
After determining that this creature is indeed a nudibranch (otherwise referred to as sea slugs or mollusks), the researchers were able to uncover that Bathydevius is the first of its kind to inhabit the deep water column.
While you might think that its translucent form is magnificent enough, the scientists have also managed to capture footage of a stunning visual transformation that occurs when the nudibranch is threatened.
It lights up its body, as if filled with a galaxy of stars, and then detaches one of the finger-like aspects of its tail as a projection - likely to distract incoming predators and give itself an opportunity to escape.
MBARI Senior Scientist Steven Haddock described the research group's wonder upon seeing this: "“When we first filmed it glowing with the ROV, everyone in the control room let out a loud ‘Oooooh!’ at the same time. We were all enchanted by the sight."
It goes to show that not only is there so much we have left to explore in the depths of the ocean, but that some of the most fascinating and illuminating - pun intended - discoveries can be found there.
