‘Lost world’ of yeti crabs and albino octopus discovered near Antarctica

Published on Wednesday 4 January 2012 01:29

A “LOST WORLD” of previously unknown species is thriving in a deep-sea hotspot near Antarctica, scientists have discovered.

Researchers operating a robot submersible found a plethora of unidentified creatures, including crabs, starfish, barnacles, sea anemones and an octopus.

The communities are living around volcanic vents deep beneath the Southern Ocean, where temperatures can reach 382C. Hydrothermal vents create a unique environment, lacking in sunlight but rich in life- sustaining minerals.

Professor Alex Rogers, from Oxford University’s Department of Zoology, who led the research, said: “Hydrothermal vents are home to animals found nowhere else on the planet that get their energy not from the Sun, but from breaking down chemicals, such as hydrogen sulphide.

“The first survey of these particular vents, in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, has revealed a hot, dark, ‘lost world’ in which whole communities of previously unknown marine organisms thrive.”

A camera-equipped remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was sent on a series of dives on the East Scotia Ridge to depths of more than 2,000 metres.

Highlights among the images captured included huge colonies of a new species of yeti crab – so-called because of their “fur” – clustered around vent chimneys, and a predatory seven-armed sea star. A mysterious pale-coloured octopus, as yet unidentified, was also spotted nearly 2,400 metres deep on the seafloor.

The creatures were described in the online journal Public Library of Science Biology.

“What we didn’t find is almost as surprising as what we did,” Prof Rogers added. “Many animals such as tubeworms, vent mussels, vent crabs and vent shrimps, found in hydrothermal vents in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, simply weren’t there.”

The cold Southern Ocean may act as a barrier to other species that make their homes around hydrothermal vents, the scientists believe.

The uniqueness of the East Scotia Ridge also suggests vent ecosystems may be much more diverse than previously thought.

Prof Rogers was on an international panel of experts who warned last year that the world could be facing an unprecedented era of marine extinction.

“These findings are yet more evidence of the precious diversity throughout the world’s oceans,” he said. “Everywhere we look, we find unique ecosystems we need to understand and protect.”

Last week University of Southampton scientists reported another ecological hotspot around “black smoker” vents deep below the Indian Ocean.

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