Siphonophore, a colonial organism that lives in the open Ocean, filmed during the #TaludContiential_IV expedition. Thanks to all for enthusiastically watching this Argentine exploration — we're happy you've joined us! 🇦🇷
¡La famosa batata! During #TaludContinental_IV, the science team nicknamed sea cucumbers batata, which means sweet potato in Spanish. While we have no authority to change animal names, we believe batata is an excellent upgrade for the oh-so-important but humble sea cucumber. 🇦🇷
“…I must sing my own song.
For me the earth is small
And could far larger be.
The pampa snakes do not bite me
And the sun does not burn my face.
My glory is to live as free
As the birds in the sky."
“The Gaucho Martín Fierro” by José Hernández, 1872
#taludcontinental_IV
🦑 Squid squad alert! Possible whiplash squid fr the family Mastigoteuthidae. Filmed in #MarDelPlataCanyon in Argentina, where an international science team is exploring the diversity & distribution of seafloor communities in one of the country’s largest deep-sea canyons. 🇦🇷
This gathering belongs to the family Nephropidae. We suspect they are Thymops birsteini, or Patagonian lobsterette — crustaceans found on the continental shelf around S. America, particularly the Argentine Sea. #MarDelPlataCanyon#TaludContinental_IV
ROV pilots filmed these sea spiders in #MarDelPlataCanyon during #TaludContinental_IV expedition in Argentina, where Argentine people are teaching us all how to experience the wonder of all deep-sea animals, many-legged and otherwise. 🇦🇷
We’d like to tell you a joke about this squid, but it might fly right over your head.🦑 #TaludContinental_IV team suspects this beauty may be Ommastrephes bartramii — a red flying squid. They use a siphon as a jet propulsion system to launch out of the water & evade predators.
Some polychaetes are bioluminescent; this sassy sparkler has protein structures in the bristles, making them iridescent. Polychaete means many bristles, and each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia covered in bristles called chaetae. #ChileMargin2024
Octopus locomotion 🐙
We believe this warty deep-sea octopus to be in the Graneledone genus of octopuses, and ROV pilots collected this footage in the #MarDelPlataCanyon in Argentina, where researchers are exploring & documenting biodiversity.
Our recent footage of this #GlassOctopus raised lots of Q's, so let's get a thread going:
This was seen 651m deep at a seamount in Winslow reef complex on Tokelau Ridge in Phoenix Islands Archipelago (US EEZ). #PhoenixIslandsCoral expedition Dive 433
youtu.be/dvG2GdxKfiQ?t=…
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When Chief Sci Daniel Lauretta & #TaludContinental_IV team encountered a seafloor blooming w/these animals, he nicknamed it: beet field. While rich in color, they're not related to ruby red root vegetables & likely a type of Anthomastus, a genus of soft corals.
Exciting news! This appears to be the FIRST observation of Spirula, aka ram's horn squid, alive + in its natural environment. Very rarely seen or captured, they have many extinct relatives, but are only living member of genus Spirula, family Spirulidae, and order Spirulida. 1/3