Researchers exploring some of the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California have discovered three new species of deep-sea snailfish.
The animals were documented by underwater vehicles from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in 2019, and researchers were able to confirm they were new species after studying the specimens.
The animal specimens were studied and confirmed to be new species by a team from the State University of New York at Geneseo, working in collaboration with MBARI and researchers from the University of Montana and the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.
Among the new species of snailfish is the bumpy snailfish (Careproctus colliculi), which has a pink color, long fin rays and a bumpy texture to its skin.
The new species was found around 62 miles off the coast of Central California and more than 10,000 feet deep, in the outer reaches of Monterey Canyon, by MBARI’s underwater vehicle Doc Ricketts.
The two other new species, the dark snailfish (Careproctus yanceyi) and the sleek snailfish (Paraliparis em), were collected in 2019 by MBARI’s submersible Alvin at about 130 miles off the California coast and a depth of just over 13,000 feet.
The dark snailfish has a black body with a rounded head and a horizontal mouth, while the sleek snailfish has a “long, black, laterally compressed body,” along with a “prominently angled jaw” and the absence of a suction disk, which is found on the bellies of many species of snailfish and helps them latch onto the seafloor or other animals.
Mackenzie Gerringer, the researcher who led the study, said that the three new species are “a reminder of how much we have yet to learn about life on Earth and of the power of curiosity and exploration.”