'Alien'-like creature discovered, with 20 'arms'

Strangely shaped creatures

A team of scientists from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (based at the University of California in San Diego, USA) has discovered a new species of creature that looks like a strawberry but has 20 strange "arms".

USA Today newspaper on August 11 quoted Professor Greg Rouse, a marine biology major at the University of California at San Diego, saying that at first his team could not associate the newly discovered marine creature with the popular fruit.

However, when the team of experts enlarged the image of its body, the animal was found to have the size and appearance of a strawberry, according to the report published in the journal Invertebrate Systematics .

Named Promachocrinus fragarius (or Antarctic strawberry star), the creature is the result of 16 years of research by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Professor Rouse and his colleagues Emily McLaughlin and Nerid Wilson conducted several expeditions to the Southern Ocean from 2008 to 2017. Promachocrinus fragarius is a relative of starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers.

Before the latest discovery of Promachocrinus fragarius, the team of researchers was unclear whether the Antarctic feather star was unique in its genus, or whether there were other species in this clade.

DNA samples from the specimens showed that the creature had relatives, such as purple and dark red species, and was believed to live in the ocean floor between 65 and 1,170 meters above sea level.

At the time of publication, the team had not yet been able to establish a standard size for the new species, and further extensive sampling was needed to fully understand the biodiversity of the Southern Ocean, including the newly discovered species.

The study shows once again that as humanity continues to explore the final frontier of the Earth, it seems our planet still holds many mysteries waiting to be discovered.

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