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Scientists aboard a research vessel in Antarctica have uncovered a 20-armed "purplish" alien sea creature that resembles a strawberry, living in the darkest depths of the ocean.
The peculiar-looking animal is a relative of the starfish and sea cucumber, but little else is known about this fascinating being.
The aim of the scientific expedition, which took place between 2008 and 2017, was to find "cryptic" sea animals known as Promachocrinus, or Antarctic feather stars.
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While sharing similar characteristics to starfish and sea cucumbers, feather stars are renowned for their enormous size and "otherworldly" appearance, researchers said.
A study detailing the discovery was published in the journal Invertebrate Systematics.
Researchers, who found eight kinds of the species, four of which hadn't even been previously named by scientists, said that they don't even swim like normal animals.
The impressive ocean-dwellers can live in a range of environments from 65ft deep all the way to 6500ft below the surface.
Prior to the most recent research, the existence of the Antarctic strawberry feather star was only presumed through unverified sightings.
Until this point only one species, Promachocrinus kerguelensis, had been officially confirmed to be swimming in our waters.
Scholars confirmed that due to advancements in technology, they can now split the sub-species into numerous categories through the examination of DNA and physical morphology or shape.
The researchers said Antarctic strawberry feather stars can range in colour from "purplish" to "dark reddish".
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- alien
- Animals
- Science
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