Okeanos Explorer Video Bite: Rare Baby Shark Still in Egg Case
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer EX1811 Dive 15 11/15/2018 16:53:33 UTC Depth – 252m Escarpment at Pichincho (popular fishing site) west of Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1604/welcome.html Scientists discover a very rare find; a shark egg case attached to a coral substrate with a baby shark still inside!
For the past month, NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer has been busily studying the marinelife around Puerto Rico as part of their Océano Profundo 2018 expedition. From “shallow” reefs at 250 meters to the deepest dive ever attempted in the region—5,000 meters into the briny depths around Mona Seamount—the ocean revealed a treasure trove of incredible finds. There were bizarre crustaceans… weird, pulsating jellies… an unprecedented forest of crinoids… a possible new sea star genus… gorgeously colorful anglerfishes… a rare sighting of a developing shark embryo. And it wasn’t all just deepsea oddities; there were sightings of fishes that should be recognizable to aquarists, like the Red-banded Wrasse (Polylepion sp.) and the true “Apricot Basslet” (Plectranthias garrupellus), and a tiny Bladefin Basslet (Jeboehlkia gladifer).
Sadly, this will be the last ROV mission of the year. Okeanos is moving on now to map the continental shelf of the Southeastern United States, which will eventually be explored with their ROVs next May. Following that, they’ll be in the Azores and Mid-Atlantic Ridge in July and the New England Seamounts in August. Yes, it’s going to be a long, cold winter without ROV livestreams, but here are some highlights of the recent expedition to get you through. Enjoy!
Megan McCuller on Twitter
Great imagery by #Okeans of a benthic siphonophore! Siphonophores are colonial organisms related to jellyfish – the most well-known one is the Portuguese man o’ war. They’ve got groups of individuals (zooids) with specific functions like movement, defense, etc. https://t.co/3CRbVGf5qU
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Isopod 4989 m deep at Mona Seamount. #Okeanos
Megan McCuller on Twitter
Cladorhizid (carnivorous) sponge with some interesting morphology. #Okeanos
Christopher Mah on Twitter
A polychaete (6 cm length) with gold legs and a blue stripe! 4993 m #Okeanos Mona Seamount #Wormwednesday
Ray Simpson on Twitter
Most people may have missed this good fish, but the lead scientists at least mentioned it! This is Jeboehlkia gladifer, and a tiny one at that, right next to the hermit crab #okeanos @oceanexplorer
Christopher Mah on Twitter
OH WOW! Crinometra FEATHER STAR FIELD! 347m on #Okeanos Desecho Ridge, Puerto Rico HUNDREDS of them!
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Cerianthid anemone 4957 m deep at Mona Seamount. #Okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Black coral 4967 m deep at Mona Seamount. #Okeanos
Rene P. Martin on Twitter
Loving the #SaturdayMorningDeepSeaFishes from #okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Umbellula 4992 m deep at Mona Seamount. #Okeanos
Katie Matthews on Twitter
The claw…THE CLAW!! #okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Red sponge 321 m deep west of Desecheo Island. #Okeanos
Christopher Mah on Twitter
A very handsome urchin, Calocidaris micans, 255 m, Pichincho Wall east.. cidaroids are thought to be predators on feather stars and other inverts.. #Okeanos
soren ☃️ ? on Twitter
a different but the same and more energetic polychaete @ mona seamount, 5K m ⬇️ #okeanos https://t.co/SFHZI0ZR1n
Ray Simpson on Twitter
Wow this is beautiful! #okeanos #coral
Christopher Mah on Twitter
A scleronephthyid soft coral with ginormous sclerites! 268 m #Okeanos Pichincho Wall East
Cartoon Neuron on Twitter
Well today my SO gets to yell “squat lobster!” at the screen ^_^ #Okeanos (Idk why this is their okeanos live feed tradition, but it’s no weirder than me pretending to be a pencil urchin I guess…)
Ray Simpson on Twitter
I need some FISH #Okeanos ! But until then some brisingid stars will suffice…
David Whittle on Twitter
Okeanos Queen snapper
Maryam A. on Twitter
Crinoid garden, near Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands, depth of ~300 m below surface #Okeanos
Maryam A. on Twitter
A 6 armed sea star that was last seen in 2015, but was not seen for about 130 years before that, near Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands, depth of ~3.4 km below surface #Okeanos
Megan McCuller on Twitter
A sea star actively feeding on a coral – you can see its stomach extended outside its body! @echinoblog #Okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Hermit crab 324 m deep west of Desecheo Island. #Okeanos
Ray Simpson on Twitter
A fun-filled, diverse #okeanos dive today invert-wise so far but I’m holding out hope for fish as they head into the shallower structure! Fingers crossed for anthiadines! Here’s a pretty young Chaunax thang
Ray Simpson on Twitter
An undescribed species of Plectranthias! #okeanos @oceanexplorer
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Queen snappers, crinoids, sponges, sea urchins, and hermit crab 365 m deep, west of Desecheo. #Okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Pom pom anemone 434 m deep at Pichincho, west of Puerto Rico. #Okeanos
Megan McCuller on Twitter
A colorful crab with some bright yellow zoanthid buddies. #Okeanos
Megan McCuller on Twitter
It might not be brightly colored, but this corallimorph had a network of beautiful (what looked like) purple iridescence throughout. #Okeanos
Megan McCuller on Twitter
A UFO sponge! (That’s not what it’s actually called…) #Okeanos
Christopher Mah on Twitter
Amazing shots of the super rare HOLOPUS, a kind of stalked crinoid, 418m from Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico #Okeanos of interest to @SBM_Concarneau !
Megan McCuller on Twitter
A colorful, bristly shrimpy – new observation for this expedition. #Okeanos
Audrey Dussutour on Twitter
sea #spiders (pycnogonids), occasionally nicknamed the “no-bodies” have such tiny abdomens that their guts extend into their legs. Their genitals are on the legs, which makes mating…well, acrobatic. #naturelovers #arthropods #biodiversity #ocean (c) Okeanos Explorer https://t.co/nr1PONV4N8
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Orange sea star 436 m deep at Pichincho west of Puerto Rico. #Okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Catshark and Queen Snapper, 438 m deep at Pichincho, west of Puerto Rico. #Okeanos
Christopher Mah on Twitter
oh NICE! Plinthaster dentatus, goniasterid sea star FEEDING on this sponge! NOM NOM! 323 m #Okeanos Bajo de Sico
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Fishes, sponges, and echinoderms, around 350 m deep north of Bajo de Sico. #Okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Sea star 2395 m deep on the east side of Mona Canyon. #Okeanos
Тэ дрэвэт утвикλэрэн on Twitter
Wormhenge! #okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Stalked crinoid 455 m deep at Pichincho, west of Puerto RIco. #Okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Goniasterid sea star 255 m deep west of Puerto Rico. #Okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Sea star 251 m deep west of Desecheo Island. #Okeanos
Megan McCuller on Twitter
A pancake urchin moving about! #Okeanos https://t.co/xwIdUApH42
asia murphy, alucard’s godmom on Twitter
ahhhh toothy boi #okeanos https://t.co/IQv63pCbRP
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Anemone, 364 m deep west of Desecheo Island. #Okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Squid 365 m deep at Pichincho Wall, west of Puerto Rico. #Okeanos
Christopher Mah on Twitter
An interesting sleeze of euplectellid glass sponges! 408 m, Isla de Mona escarpment, #Okeanos today!
Ray Simpson on Twitter
Polylepion n. sp. doing a Fido impression! #okeanos almost #wrassewednesday
Christopher Mah on Twitter
A slit shell snail at 410 m #Pleurotammaridae #Okeanos Isla de Mona escarpment
Megan McCuller on Twitter
What a nice and curly brisingid! #Okeanos
Maryam A. on Twitter
Holothurian, near Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands, depth of ~3.4 km below surface #Okeanos
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Bathysaurus 3324 m deep at the Vega Baja Landslide north of Puerto Rico. #Okeanos
Christopher Mah on Twitter
Multi-taxon assemblage! Calocidaris, along with a feather star in the foreground and what might be a xenophyophore (protist) 363 m #Okeanos Bajo de Sico
Christopher Mah on Twitter
A striking gorgonocephalid ‘basket star” #Ophiuroid at 410 m Isla de Mona Escarpment, #Okeanos
Christopher Mah on Twitter
A gorgeous brisingid, possibly the genus Hymenodiscus, about 2150 m #Okeanos Mona Canyon east
Christopher Mah on Twitter
ooo! I think the serpent star is Hemieuryale pustulata! interesting! #Okeanos 413 m Isla de Mona escarpment
Christopher Mah on Twitter
A farreid glass sponge! 2320 m on #Okeanos today in Mona Canyon east!
Christopher Mah on Twitter
And we end today’s dive with this lovely stalked crinoid at 2615 m! #Okeanos Jaguey Spur
Christopher Mah on Twitter
YOWEE!! A likely new genus, species of goniasterid sea star! 2650 m #Okeanos Jaguey Spur!
Tara Harmer Luke on Twitter
Interesting benthic ctenophore 2737 m deep southwest of Puerto Rico at Jaguey Spur. #Okeanos
Megan McCuller on Twitter
An armored searobin showing off its walking “legs” which are really modified fin rays. #Okeanos https://t.co/nazSHVO2zZ
Megan McCuller on Twitter
Did you know that giant isopods are pretty good swimmers? #Okeanos https://t.co/nqXlngqYwM
Megan McCuller on Twitter
A pancake urchin in the genus Phormosoma. This one has a lot of inflated sacs! @echinoblog #Okeanos
Karen Yip on Twitter
A #jellyfish! Just amazing. But pssst: we can see your private parts ?? #troublewithbeingtransparent #okeanos
Katie Matthews on Twitter
Crab be crazy #okeanos
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