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See-thru deep ocean fish

MBARI’s ROV Ventana spotted this very rare barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma) last week, with a see-through head!

MBARI’s ROV was cruising at a depth of ~2,132 feet (650 meters) in the Monterey Submarine Canyon, one of the deepest submarine canyons on the Pacific coast.

The barreleye has two eyes that glow bright green in the ROV lights and a clear, fluid-filled shield that covers its head. The eyes are incredibly light-sensitive and can be oriented straight up, towards the top of the fish’s head, or straight ahead, according to MBARI. Two dark-colored capsules sit in front of the fish’s eyes and contain the organs the animal uses to smell.

Full articles at: MBARI and Live Science 09dec21

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Bigfin Squid spotted during ROV mapping

A rare creature to see, a bigfin squid was spotted about 2 weeks ago during Dive 10 of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)’s Windows to the Deep 2021 ROV and mapping expedition off the West Florida Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico. (Video below)

Bigfin squid are widely distributed throughout the world’s deep ocean, and they can live deeper than any other known squid. The current depth record for a bigfin squid is 4,735 meters (3 miles) and the largest known bigfin squid was 6.4 meters (21 feet) long with arms and tentacles 6.1 meters (20 feet) long. Imagine arms 20 times the length of your body!

Full article at: Oceanexplorer.noaa.gov 12nov21

https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex2107/features/bigfin-squid/media/dive10-bigfin-squid-640×360.mp4?640

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Robohub: ROV build story

We love hearing about custom ROV builds and their backstories. Here is an interesting one:

Student Christian Engler teamed up with friends to build a custom ROV to compete in the 2019 International ROV MATE Competition. Their design then attracted the attention of Swiss Explosive Ordnance Disposal divers and lead to further refinement and development, producing the commercial Proteus ROV.

Full article at: Robohub: From Garage to Swiss Lakes

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Hydra? Ciliate? Cnidarian?

UnderseaROV has teamed up with AUSI to explore microscopic underwater habitats in the SEA Lab. We are still learning a lot about this minuscule cosmos (there is sooo much to see in each water droplet) and spotted a mystery marine organism on a piece of seagrass that we hope someone out there can help us identify. This creature looks to be part hydra, part ciliate, part cnidarian (jellyfish family)? We have yet to find any nomenclature that fits. Help?

[Update] Huge thank you to our friends Jen Z, Bruno and others connected with the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs, who identified this creature as a bryozoan, specifically from the genus Amathia (formerly known as Bowerbankia, kind of like the Artist Formerly Known as Prince). We so appreciate your help!!

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Rare Squid Spotted by ROV

The Schmidt Ocean Institute scientists, using the ROV SuBastian, came across this rarely-seen, otherworldly squid in 2019. This genus, Planctoteuthis, inhabits ocean depths of up to 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) down, almost entirely beyond the reach of the Sun’s rays.

This stunning and delicate genus of squid is largely known from samples hauled up from the depths, and damaged in the process. We’ve only seen Planctoteuthis alive in its natural habitat very rarely, so there’s a lot we don’t know.

For example, scientists have found in the samples features usually only seen in juvenile squids. This suggests that the genus might be neotenic, or slow to mature. We also don’t know the reason for the long, elaborate tails.

However, when a creature doesn’t look like its species, there’s a good bet that it looks like something else. This is called mimicry, and in the animal kingdom it often confers an advantage for avoiding predators. This specific Planctoteuthis is thought to resemble a siphonophore, a composite animal that possesses stinging cells, and flashes light to attract prey.

Planctoteuthis could be hijacking the appearance of a siphonophore to try and attract similar prey, but also to repel the predators that would normally be wary of being stung by a siphonophore.

Full article at: Science Alert 07oct21