BTN News: Antarctica is a large icy place. It is surrounded by the cold Southern Ocean. It is still a very mysterious place. The cold weather makes it hard to live there. But it is good for research. Many amazing animals live there.
A Surprising New Animal Discovery
Some scientists from the United States found a strange new animal. They wrote about it in a journal called Invertebrate Systematics. This new animal has 20 arms and looks like a strawberry. They found it in 2022 during a deep-sea trip. It is a new type of sea feather. They named it Promachocrinus fragarius.
Learning About Sea Feathers and Their Unusual Nature
Sea feathers are also called sea lilies. They are part of the crinoid family. This family also includes starfish, sea urchins, and sponges. Sea feathers are very rare. They live deep in the ocean, from 65 to 3,500 meters below the surface.
Special Features of Promachocrinus Fragarius
Promachocrinus fragarius is purple and red. It has 20 arms that are about 20 centimeters long. It uses these arms to move and float in the cold Antarctic water. To eat, it spreads its arms and catches tiny sea creatures with a sticky substance.
Detailed Look at the New Sea Feather’s Body
This sea feather has small tentacles at the top of its body. These tentacles are called cirri. They end in tiny claws that help the sea feather hold onto rocks or the ocean floor. Scientists found that under the cirri, there are round bumps that look like a strawberry. This is why they named it fragarius, which means strawberry in Latin.
Introduction of More New Species by Scientists
The scientists also found three more new Promachocrinus species. These are called P. unruhi, P. uskglassi, and P. wattsorum. These species have only ten arms but are also very interesting.
Conclusion
Finding these new sea feather species shows that our planet has many amazing creatures. It reminds us that Earth is full of wonderful and mysterious animals. These creatures are important for the balance of all life on Earth.
