{"id":28204,"date":"2017-06-23T10:10:34","date_gmt":"2017-06-23T17:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=28204"},"modified":"2017-06-23T10:14:32","modified_gmt":"2017-06-23T17:14:32","slug":"friday-fun-it-looks-like-a-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2017\/06\/23\/friday-fun-it-looks-like-a-what\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Fun: It Looks Like a WHAT?!?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was just a week ago that the month-long Sampling the Abyss<\/em><\/strong> marine biology expedition ended.\u00a0 While they found thousands of rare deep sea creatures, about a third of which are new to science, they created a major internet sensation and got the most attention when they revealed just one \u2013 the Peanut Worm<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And that is NOT<\/em><\/span> a typo \u2013 it is Peanut Worm (Sipuncula)<\/em> \u2013 so you should not confuse it with the already discovered Penis Worm<\/em><\/strong> (Priapulida)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

And of course as a physician, I took it right in stride with an ever so mature reaction:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sampling the Abyss<\/em> mission was comprised of 40 scientists under the auspices of Australia\u2019s Museums Victoria and CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). \u00a0It set out on the ship Investigator<\/em> to explore Australia\u2019s Abyss off its eastern coast down to a depth of 4km (2.5 miles) \u2013 some of the most remote and unexplored area on earth in some of its most treacherous waters.<\/p>\n

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The lead scientist on the mission, Dr. Tim O\u2019Hara<\/strong>, said, \u201cAustralia\u2019s deep-sea environment is larger in size than the mainland, and until now, almost nothing was known about life on the abyssal plain.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe abyss is the largest and deepest habitat on the planet, covering half the world\u2019s oceans and one third of Australia\u2019s territory, but it remains the most unexplored environment on Earth. We know that abyssal animals have been around for at least 40 million years, but until recently only a handful of samples had been collected from Australia\u2019s abyss.\u201d<\/p>\n

To corral new creatures, the team lowered nets to a depth so deep that it took seven hours to reach the ocean floor.\u00a0 And in addition to looking for new life-forms, the team also used “high-tech multi-beam sonar” for mapping purposes to the previously unexplored area.<\/p>\n

One can imagine the environment of the Abyss: crushing pressures, no light, little food and close to freezing temperatures. \u00a0So the creatures that call this home have developed extraordinary attributes to survive – from having no eyes, to producing their own light through bioluminescence. \u00a0Many are jelly-like, most likely to endure the pressures, while others have partially calcified skeletons and spines.\u00a0 But they all have one thing in common: they are without a doubt some of the strangest creatures ever discovered.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s meet a few of these new finds, and I\u2019ll try to do them alphabetically.<\/p>\n

Bamboo Coral<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The delicate bamboo coral skeleton is made up of calcium carbonate with joint like nodes giving them the appearance of bamboo. They are incredibly long-lived with some having been recorded as old as 4,000 years.\u00a0 And they have growth rings like trees, so it\u2019s hoped they\u2019ll be able to provide a past history of major oceanic events.<\/p>\n

Blind Cusk Eel \u2013 or Faceless Fish<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It has no eyes, and its mouth is underneath.\u00a0 It’s actually a cusk eel with the scientific name\u00a0Typhlonus nasus, which is derived from Greek, meaning “blind hake.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blobfish<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The blob fish was collected at a depth of 2.5km and has soft watery flesh.\u00a0 It nestles in on the ocean floor, lies very still and then ambushes unsuspecting prey as they pass by.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a close cousin to Mr. Blobby, the social media phenom we\u2019ve all probably seen that was collected in the Tasman Sea in 2003 and was voted the World\u2019s Ugliest Fish in 2013.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brittle Star \u2013 Game of Thrones<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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This was a new find, so Dr. O’Hara named it the Game of Thrones Brittle Star, Ophiohamus georgemartini, because of its sharp thorns similar to those depicted on the Game of Thrones crown. \u00a0It has no eyes and no brain \u2013 so I\u2019m sure it\u2019s a republican.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a protoplasm of pure nerves.<\/p>\n

Cookie-cutter Shark<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It has perfectly aligned serrated teeth and strange eyes that glow in the dark.\u00a0 It preys on preys on pretty much anything including dolphins, whales and the occasional unfortunate human, latching onto them before gouging out cookie-sized chunks of flesh.<\/p>\n

Dumbo Octopus<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dumbo Octopus flaps its ear-like fins to \u201cfly\u201d or glide through the deep abyss \u2013 just like the Disney movie Dumbo elephant.<\/p>\n

Lizard Fish<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The lizard fish (Bathysaurus ferox) is pretty much just a mouth with sharp hinged teeth.\u00a0 They live at depths of 1,000-2,500 metres (3,280-8,202 feet) where there is very little food, so they tend to be sparse in number.<\/p>\n

At that depth, it tends to be even harder to find a mate than a meal, so they have evolved to become hermaphrodites: they have male and female reproductive organs.\u00a0 So when they do come across another one they\u2019ll be able to mate \u2013 and have cute little baby lizard fishes.<\/p>\n

Peanut Worm<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

They actually do look like a peanut \u2013 but it only happens when they are threatened and then assume a defensive posture.\u00a0 The worm\u00a0retracts its head inside itself, and so really does look similar to a peanut.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sea Pigs<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They found a herd of sea pigs on the ocean floor.\u00a0 They act like little vacuum cleaners by using their tube-like feet to move across the floor, hoovering up microorganisms. \u00a0They are the only type of sea cucumber with \u2018feet\u2019 and tend to gather in large numbers where food is abundant.<\/p>\n

Zombie Worm<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Zombie worms are 1 to 3 inches long and were first discovered in the bones of a rotting gray whale on the ocean floor.\u00a0 They have no functioning mouth, digestive tract or anus, but have bacteria that digest whale bone marrow.<\/p>\n

They burrow into bones to feed, and according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, they secrete an acid from their skin that dissolves that bone, freeing up the fat and protein.\u00a0 They then use the symbiotic bacteria living inside the worms to digest the fat and protein.<\/p>\n

You can find lots more information at a number of sites – or just Google “Peanut Worm” in the last month, and you’ll find lots more!\u00a0 But you may want to start w\/ the expedition’s own blog site:<\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.nespmarine.edu.au\/abyss-landing-page<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/picture-gallery\/news\/2017\/06\/21\/weird-and-unseen-fish-discovered-in-australian-abyss\/103063292\/<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/tech\/sciencefair\/2017\/06\/21\/australian-deep-sea-researchers-find-peanut-worm-other-creatures\/415980001\/<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/faceless-fish-weird-underwater-creatures-626836<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.torontosun.com\/2017\/06\/20\/australian-deep-sea-expedition-dives-into-the-abyss-and-discovers-sea-creatures-from-your-nightmares<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sciencetech\/article-4619510\/Photos-deeps-ea-creatures-Australia-s-coast.html<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was just a week ago that the month-long Sampling the Abyss marine biology expedition ended.\u00a0 While they found thousands of rare deep sea creatures, about a third of which are new to science, they created a major internet sensation and got the most attention when they revealed just one \u2013 the Peanut Worm: And […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}