'Lost World' Found in Antarctic Sea
Antarctica - A collection of unknown species that had never before been found on the seabed, near Antarctica, clustered around hydrothermal vents is hot and dark. Research conducted a joint team from the University of Oxford, University of Southampton and the British Antarctic Survey, managed to find a new species yeti crabs, starfish, sea anemones, barnacles, and octopus.
"Hydrothermal vents are home to animals that can only be found there, and get energy from the sun but not the destruction of chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide," said Professor Alex Rogers of Oxford University's Department of Zoology and leader of the research "The first survey of special ventilation, in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, reveal a 'lost world', the dark and heat, where a community of sea creatures that were not previously known or described," he added.
To explore the depth of the East Scotia Ridge, beneath the Southern Ocean, they are using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV). Pictures taken by the ROV shows a large colony yeti crab, which is expected to dominate the hydrothermal vent ecosystems in Antarctica. In other areas, ROV caught a number of starfish predators with eight arms, crawling toward the expanse of barnacles. At a depth of approximately 2400 meters on the seabed, the ROV found a pale octopus that have not been identified. Thus was launched Physorg, Thursday (05/01/2012).