Underwater camera captures elusive tentacled creature 3 miles below ocean surface
Marine scientists are finding ways to learn more about the most elusive species that live in the deepest depths of the ocean and how they fit into the planet's biodiversity.
Little is known about Iosactis vagabunda, a tentacled deep-sea anemone that resides on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain, a seabed off the coast of Ireland.
But thanks to cameras built to withstand the deep-sea pressure, researchers were able to capture images and study the mysterious creature, according to a paper published in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers.
I. vagabunda typically feeds on phytodetritus -- or organic particulate matter -- from the seabed but also preys on polychaete, a marine worm species that grows to be much bigger than the anemone itself. Images showed anemones using their tentacles to pluck organic particles from the water and eat them with their mouths.
Other images showed one anemone, measuring less than an inch, feasting on a 4-inch marine worm over the course of 16 hours. Once eaten, the worm's bristles were visible through the anemone's body wall, researchers said.
The anemone, which has 24 tentacles, also spends hours creating new burrows and often moves from burrow to burrow in between feedings -- unique from other immobile anemone species, according to researchers.
The study encompassed 18 specimens seen in eight-hour intervals over 20 months and one individual specimen in 20-minute intervals over two weeks. Towed-vehicle cameras managed to snap 29,016 usable photos.
The anemones are likely the most prevalent species that lives on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain, scientists said.
Its feeding and movement patterns make them "critical" carbon cyclers, researchers said.
As global warming intensifies and the ocean continues to absorb more heat, further sea floor exploration may be necessary to discover impactful climate mitigation strategies involving the ocean, researchers noted.
