New species discovered in Antarctic hydrothermal vents

A seven-armed starfish, a white octopus and an unknown species of crab are part of the marine fauna discovered thanks to the use of a Remotely Operated Vehicle, a robotic probe lowered into the sea near Antarctica in order to explore the waters of the South Pole. The area explored surrounds the East Scotia Ridge, the underwater ridge system in the Southern Ocean that is rich in hydrothermal vents, smokers and geothermic springs that can heat the surrounding waters to 380°C. Here a unique ecosystem exists that has no light but is rich in chemical compounds and where unique forms of life are found, which receive the energy they require to survive not from the Sun, but from chemical compounds such as hydrogen sulphide. The real discovery of this expedition, however, is what was absent: in fact, many species that live next to hydrothermal vents in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans have not been found near Antarctica. The researchers believe that the differences between the groups of animals found in vents in this part of the world and those found elsewhere could derive from the fact that the Southern Ocean acts as a barrier to some species that thrive in vent environments. The discovery was announced by researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Southampton and from the British Antarctic Survey through an article published in the magazine “PloS Biology”.