Researchers at the A.V. Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have documented a marine species previously unknown to science—a type of skeleton shrimp belonging to the Caprellidae family. This specimen was retrieved from the Pacific Ocean, specifically in the vicinity of the underwater peaks known as the Emperor Seamounts. The basis for this finding stems from data collected during a scientific voyage conducted in 2021.
During this scientific undertaking, aboard the research vessel “Akademik M.A. Lavrentyev,” the team employed a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) to survey the communities inhabiting the guyot named Koko. At a depth approximating 375 meters, they successfully gathered eighteen individual crustaceans, which were subsequently classified as representing a novel species.
The center’s statement explicitly notes, “The Caprellidae family had not previously been recorded at bathyal depths within this locale.”
The newly identified species has been formally assigned the Latin binomial Caprella montana, derived from the word for “mountainous.” The scientists hypothesize that the ancestral lineage of these amphipods might have colonized these seamounts via one of two primary routes: either utilizing the seamounts as stepping stones during dispersal events, or during ancient geological epochs when these formations pierced the ocean surface as islands, allowing the organisms to traverse by affixing themselves to floating debris.
A defining characteristic of this species involves the particular morphology of its appendages, which facilitates effective climbing across intricate terrains composed of corals, hydroid polyps, and rocky ocean floors. This discovery significantly enhances our comprehension of the mechanisms driving biodiversity development across the abyssal zones of the World Ocean.
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