Using a diving robot, researchers have captured images (see video) of an obscure-looking deep-sea creature off the coast of Chile. At first glance, the creature could easily be mistaken for a pair of glittering false eyelashes…
A team from the Schmidt Ocean Institute filmed the bristle worm at the edge of a deep-sea coastal area that extends from the west coast of Chile and drops steeply into the Pacific Ocean. They recently published photos of the animal on Facebook and Instagram (post below).
“Deep Sea Christmas Tree”, “Toilet Washer”
The images of the creature enjoyed great interest from users there. One user described the worm as a ‘forbidden toilet scrubber’, while another called it a ‘deep-sea Christmas tree’. A third joked: “Looks like it’s made from two false eyelashes.”
The animal is a polychaete worm (also called polychaete), a class of annelids that, with few exceptions, live in the sea and populate all habitats. More than 10,000 species of these worms are known so far.
Protein structures make the bristles glow
The filmed specimen is bioluminescent (in biology, bioluminescence is the ability of living things to generate light on their own or with the help of symbionts). It has protein structures in the bristles that make them iridescent, experts say.
Source: Krone
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
