Researchers have detailed the bizarre-looking species of crinoids known as the Antarctic strawberry feather star.
The free-swimming organisms which mostly live in warm waters are spotted to have an upgrade on their legs. This time, the scientists described the alien-like creatures with 20 legs.
20-Legged Antarctic Strawberry Feather Star
According to the research entitled "Resolving the taxonomy of the Antarctic feather star species complex Promachocrinus 'kerguelensis' (Echinodermata: Crinoidea)," one of the "new-to-science species" is the Promachocrinus fragarius.
If you have already watched extraterrestrial movies, you will immediately notice its resemblance with the facehugger. It's a Xenomorph parasite that is connected to alien species.
However, the Antarctic strawberry feather star is not something you shouldn't fear. According to the experts, it shares the appearance with other sea animals including echinoderms, starfish, and sea cucumbers.
New research has unveiled that a new group of organisms was thriving in the chilliest marine environments of the oceans.
Between 2008 and 2017, the group of researchers scrutinized the specimens and found interesting information about their complex morphology.
At the moment, there are seven new species discovered under the same Promachocrinus genus. However, there are four species that are still waiting to be unearthed in the depths of the seas.
The peculiar sighting has led scientists to witness the beauty of the Antarctic strawberry feather star, a somewhat creepy-looking crinoid.
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What's Interesting About the Swimming Crinoid
If we take a closer look at the species, we can discern how it somewhat looks like a flowering plant. Unfortunately, you won't see any carmine-red coloration in the strawberry feather star. The only thing that makes it a strawberry-like creature is the shape of its body.
Crinoids are usually sedentary. They seldom move from one place to another. If they want to eat, they could just get it from the water, per IFL Science.
For scientists, this research has exposed the beauty of the swimming crinoid. Its arms are gracefully dancing as if it's a water dancer. The rhythmic movement of its body is what mesmerized the experts.
"Monitoring biodiversity requires robust identification of taxa and this can be very complicated when taxa are truly cryptic. This study suggests that some species in Promachocrinus can be determined on the basis of morphology, however the ambiguity among some species suggests that sequencing (minimally COI) should remain the primary tool if species-level resolution is required," the authors said.
When it comes to their morphology, the previous study only assumed that crinoids have 20 arms. In fact, there are some feather stars that only have 10 arms.
The research looks forward to discovering more details about these bizarre species. It might take some time to run a molecular analysis just to study the different parts of the body.
If you want to see how a feather star swims, here's the footage from EVNautilus uploaded a year ago.
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