Yzabelle Bostyn
SCIENTISTS from Spain have discovered a new species of mud dragon (kinorhynch) a vital part of the marine ecosystem.
The Universidad Complutense de Madrid researchers identified the animal 6,000 metres deep in the Orkney Trench, part of the Antarctic Ocean.
Mud dragons are tiny animals measuring between 100 micrometers and one millimeter, often occupying sediments.
They are a kind of meiobenthos, a key part of the marine food chain and breakdown of organic material.
“This discovery significantly expands our knowledge of the biodiversity of these animals, adding to a very limited group of species known at these depths,” said Alberto Gonzalez Casarrubios, researcher at the UCM Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution.
Published by Zoologischer Anzeiger journal, the study was led by Nuria Sanchez.
Until now, only two species of kinorhynchs were known at this depth due to the technical difficulty involved.
“The results of this study have significant implications for the understanding and conservation of deep-sea marine ecosystems,” concludes Gonzalez Casarrubios.
As well as the Spanish researchers, other scientists from the University of Southern Denmark, the Federal University of Rio Grande (Brazil), the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, and the French Research Institute for the Exploration of the Sea were also involved in the study.
