Scientists Discover New Deep Sea Predator

Scientists have discovered a new crustacean. It lives and hunts in one of the darkest, deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean. Researchers named it Dulcibella camanchaca.

“Dulcibella camanchaca is a fast-swimming predator that we named after ‘darkness’ in the languages of the peoples from the Andes region to signify the deep, dark ocean ...,” Johanna Weston said in a written statement. She is an ecologist.

Weston led the team that discovered the shrimplike creature. She is a specialist in the hadal zone. It is the region of the ocean that sits at depths between 3.7 and 6.8 miles. No light reaches it. It is named after Hades, the Greek god of the underworld.

Weston's team works in the Atacama Trench off the coast of Chile. The team sank a baited platform 7,902 meters (4.91 miles) down. Then the team waited to see what hungry predators came along. Dulcibella camanchaca obliged.

Dulcibella camanchaca measures 1.5 inches long. It has four retractable claws. They look like a praying mantis' claws. It also has long mandibles. It uses them to hold its prey. Weston believes it likely eats other, smaller crustaceans. It is quite unlike anything her team had ever seen before. Weston emphasized that its discovery means there is still much for humans to learn about the ocean’s depths.

“This study … confirmed Dulcibella camanchaca as a new species,” Weston wrote. “This finding underlines the importance of continued deep-ocean exploration, particularly in Chile’s front yard.”

Reflect: What do you think we can learn by exploring the deep, dark parts of the ocean?

Photo of Dulcibella camanchaca from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.