Researchers sifting through the ocean near Antarctica discovered a new species that appears scary in images — but named it after a fruit.
According to Greg Rouse, a marine biology professor at the University of California, San Diego, the Antarctic strawberry feather star is a sea creature with 20 so-called “arms” — some bumpy, some feathery — that may grow to be up to eight inches long.
Rouse and academics Emily McLaughlin and Nerid Wilson co-authored the report on the new species, which was published in Invertebrate Systematics last month.
At first glance, the alien-like creature does not resemble a strawberry. Zooming in on its body — a small nub at the tip of all those arms — it matches the size and form of the fruit.
According to Rouse, the circular bumps on the star’s body are where the cirri — the smaller tentacle-like strings extending from the base — should be, but were removed to expose the attachment sites.
“We’ve taken a bunch of the cirri away so you can see the parts that they’re attached to, and that’s what looks like a strawberry,” he explained.
He went on to say that the cirri have small claws at the end that they utilize to grip the seafloor.
The arms of the Antarctic strawberry feather star displayed in the illustration are the longer, feathery-like sections. They’re usually spread out, according to Rouse, and facilitate the creature’s mobility.
Promachocrinus fragarius is the scientific name for the newly discovered species. It belongs to the Crinoidea class, which also includes starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, and is a sort of feather star, hence the less formal “Antarctic feather star” moniker. According to the article, the name Fragarius is derived from the Latin word “fragum,” which means “strawberry.”
According to the professor, there was formerly only one species in the Antarctic feather star group – Promachocrinus kerguelensis.
However, after dragging a net over the Southern Ocean in search of further samples of these animals, a team of scientists from Australia and the United States discovered four new species that can be classified as Antarctic feather stars.
The Antarctic strawberry feather star is distinguished by the amount of “arms” it possesses. “The vast majority of feather stars have ten arms,” Rouse explained.
The “arms” of a feather star are typically extended out and upward, while the cirri are directed downward, according to Rouse.
With this discovery, researchers could add eight new species to the Antarctic feather star category, including four new discoveries and “resurrecting” previously identified animals that were thought to be their own species, according to Rouse.
“So we went from one species with 20 arms to now eight species — six with 20 arms and two with 10 arms — all under the name Promachocrinus,” Rouse explained.
The Antarctic strawberry feather star was discovered between 215 and 3,840 feet below the surface, according to the article.
In their report, the researchers acknowledged the “otherworldly appearance of the swimming motions of feather stars.”
However, finding new species in general is not a rare occurrence, according to Rouse, who added that his team at the university’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography names up to 10 to 15 species per year.
“We find a variety of species.” “The issue is the amount of work that goes into naming them,” he explained.
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
