Mushroom-shaped deep sea creatures, unlike any previously known to science, discovered in the waters of Australia 28 years ago, and have now been recognized as a new form of life.
Marine biologists discovered a pair of new species of organisms, with an alien-like appearance. The samples were collected during a massive operation in 1986, but it was not until now that the new creatures were recognized as a new form of animal. The creatures were collected at depths of 1,300 and 3,300 feet under the surface of the water off the southeastern continental shelf of Australia.
Lifeforms are classified in biological groups, beginning with domain, then proceeding to kingdom. One such kingdom includes all forms of animals, from mites to human, and each kingdom has a group of phyla. Examples of these are vertebrates, including snakes, dinosaurs and humans. The newly-discovered animals do not belong to any known phylum, making them highly-unique among all known creatures.
"New mushroom-shaped animals from the deep sea discovered which could not be placed in any recognized group of animals. Two species are recognized and current evidence suggest that they represent an early branch on the tree of life, with similarities to the 600 million-year-old extinct Ediacara fauna," Jørgen Olesen of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, said.
Dendrogramma enigmatica and Dendrogramma discoides are similar to animals which may have been one of the first attempts at multi-cellular life. Those creatures lived, and died, roughly 600 million years ago. The modern organisms possess a dense layer of gel between their skin and inner cell layers that function as a stomach. Their body structures are non-symmetrical, and do not contain any other body features than a stomach wrapped in translucent skin.
Dendrogramma species have some similarities to jellyfish (Cnidarians) and comb jellies (Ctenophora). However, the animals do not possess some of the physical characteristics that would place them within either of the familiar Phyla.
Preservation of the creatures was accomplished by utilizing formaldehyde, and storing the samples in a solution of 80 percent ethanol. This process destroys genetic material, making DNA analysis on the sample impossible. Researchers are hoping to sample more of the unique creatures from deep beneath the waters of Australia in order to perform modern analysis of the creatures. Such an expedition could also recover additional species of Dendrogramma, or other unusual lifeforms previously unseen by scientists.
Marine animals come in some bizarre forms, including giant isopods that resemble twisted Tootsie Rolls and razor-toothed fish that use bioluminescent lights to attract prey.
Discovery was detailed in the online journal Plos One.
