New Scorpionfish Species Discovered in Deep Caribbean Waters
- 8 years ago
A new species of scorpionfish was recently discovered in the Caribbean, thanks to the Smithsonian's Deep Reef Observation Project, or DROP.
A new species of scorpionfish was recently discovered in the Caribbean, thanks to the Smithsonian Institution’s Deep Reef Observation, or DROP, project.
The sea creature, called the Stellate Scorpionfish, lives deep in the waters near Curaçao and beyond the reach of divers.
However, the two robotic arms on the research team’s sub were able to pluck one from the depths.
What makes the fish visibly unique are its bright warm colors and notably long fin rays.
DNA analysis confirmed it to be a species unto itself.
This is the DROP project’s 10th new species discovery.
The mission is focused on exploring the little researched roughly 160 to 980 foot depths of tropical waters as, said one of the team’s member’s, the, “zone is poorly studied - too deep for conventional SCUBA and too shallow to be of much interest to really deep-diving submersibles.”
A new species of scorpionfish was recently discovered in the Caribbean, thanks to the Smithsonian Institution’s Deep Reef Observation, or DROP, project.
The sea creature, called the Stellate Scorpionfish, lives deep in the waters near Curaçao and beyond the reach of divers.
However, the two robotic arms on the research team’s sub were able to pluck one from the depths.
What makes the fish visibly unique are its bright warm colors and notably long fin rays.
DNA analysis confirmed it to be a species unto itself.
This is the DROP project’s 10th new species discovery.
The mission is focused on exploring the little researched roughly 160 to 980 foot depths of tropical waters as, said one of the team’s member’s, the, “zone is poorly studied - too deep for conventional SCUBA and too shallow to be of much interest to really deep-diving submersibles.”