‘Inflated’ sea creature — with 20 tentacles — found by submarine. It’s a new species
Thousands of feet below the surface of the South China Sea, scientists aboard a submarine stared at the seafloor. An “inflated” sea creature with 20 tentacles was meandering along the sandy slope.
It turned out to be a new species.
Researchers explored the South China Sea during a series of five dives on a “manned submersible vehicle” between 2018 and 2023, according to a study published March 20 in the peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys.
During these dives, researchers found four unfamiliar-looking orange sea cucumbers, the study said. They carefully collected the deep-sea animals and brought them to the surface.
Researchers studied the sea cucumbers and realized they’d discovered a new species: Oneirophanta lucerna, or the Chinese lantern sea cucumber.
Chinese lantern sea cucumbers can reach about 8.6 inches in length and just over 2 inches in width, the study said. They have “inflated” and “elongated” bodies with 19 or 20 tentacles and over 22 tube feet.
Sea cucumbers use these feet-like projections to suction onto surfaces and move around, according to the University of Hawai‘i.
A photo shows the Chinese lantern sea cucumber in the wild and after being collected. The center of its slug-like body is a whitish cream while its many appendages have a bright orange color.
Researchers said they named the new species after the Latin word “lucerna,” meaning “lantern,” because it was discovered around the time of “the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival.”
So far, the new species has only been found in the South China Sea at a depth of about 4,500 feet, the study said. The South China Sea is a contested body of water in southeastern Asia that borders Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The new species was identified by its tube feet, tentacles and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had at least 12% genetic divergence from other Oneirophanta sea cucumbers.
The research team included Yunlu Xiao and Haibin Zhang. The team also discovered two more new species of sea cucumber: a reddish one and a yellow-white one.
This story was originally published March 28, 2024 at 10:07 AM with the headline "‘Inflated’ sea creature — with 20 tentacles — found by submarine. It’s a new species."
