MONTEREY, Calif. — More than two decades after spotting a mysterious, gelatinous, bioluminescent creature swimming in the deep sea, California researchers this week announced that it is a new species of sea slug.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute posted video online of the new sea slug floating gently in the depths.
Using a remote vehicle, scientists with the institute first noticed what they called a “mystery mollusc” in February 2000 at a depth of 8,576 feet (2,614 meters) in the Pacific.
“With a voluminous hooded structure at one end, a flat tail fringed with numerous finger-like projections at the other, and colorful internal organs in between, the team initially struggled to place this animal in a group,” the institute said in a statement Tuesday.