#Eurythenes

[todropscience]

While this species is new to science and lives in one of the remotes habitat in the world, the hadal zone, it is not exempt from plastic pollution, one individual was found to have a microplastic PET (Polyethylene-terephthalate) fiber in its gut. PET is a very common plastic usedto make water bottles, food packaging and fibers clothings. This species was named  Eurythenes plasticus after this finding.

Weston et al., 2020.  New species of Eurythenes from hadal depths of the Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Zootaxa

[epikulupu]

i must talk about mariana snailfish immediately.

mariana snailfish are a species of cartilaginous fish that live in the bottom of the mariana trench, and theyre the deepest living fish we know of.

where they live is so deep that their protiens should literally be crushed by the pressure, because protiens kind of distort and warp under certain pressures, which means that the fish would die. but! they have an abnormal amount of the organic compound TMAO (trimethylamine n-oxide) which counteracts these effects and allows fish to exist! they also have extra genes to repair its dna and make TMAO.

mariana snailfish also kind of look like animals that evolved in caves (no pigmentation, eyes that hardly work) and thats because where they live light literally cannot reach. they usually eat tiny crustaceans and eurythenes atacamensis, which is a kind of amphipod (amphipods are closely related to shrimp) about 3 inches (8cm) in length.

anyways mariana snailfish are cool as fuck and i love them oh so much

-🦭anon

HOLY SHIT THATS SO COOL @adorable-abomination LOOK

[sciencespies]

A 'giant' crustacean scavenger has been discovered deep in the ocean

https://sciencespies.com/nature/a-giant-crustacean-scavenger-has-been-discovered-deep-in-the-ocean/

A 'giant' crustacean scavenger has been discovered deep in the ocean

Discovering a new species and placing it on the tree of life is a big responsibility. I have been fortunate to name four species from some of the deepest, most remote and least sampled parts of the ocean. Each new species helps us uncover how life thrives in the hadal zone (anywhere deeper than 6,000 meters or 3.7 miles). Now, let me introduce you to Eurythenes atacamensis.

E. atacamensis is an amphipod, a type of crustacean closely related to a shrimp, endemic to the Peru-Chile Trench (also known as the Atacama Trench). Measuring more than 8 centimeters (3 inches) in length, it is nearly twice the size of its nearest relative, making it a giant.

Spanning an extensive vertical range, juveniles and adults can be found in the trench between 4,974 to 8,081 meters. This includes the deepest point, known as Richard’s Deep.

It is one of the most abundant members of the trench community, joining a trio of snailfish and long-legged, spider-like isopods. As a scavenger, this amphipod plays a critical role within the food web by intercepting and redistributing food sinking down from above.

They quickly detect and consume new carrion, like the mackerel bait we used to coax individuals into the trap. Unfortunately, they can accidentally ingest microplastics too.

Their home is one of 35 trenches that reach hadal depths. These trenches are formed by a geologic process called subduction (where one tectonic plate is forced under another causing the ocean floor to quickly plunge). The volume of the Atacama Trench is almost the same as the neighboring Andes mountain range, also created by the tectonic subduction zone.

Compared to the conditions at the surface, the hadal (or deep-sea) environment seems extreme. It is pitch black with water temperatures varying between 1°C and 4°C (33.8 and 39.2 °F) at the deepest points.

The hydrostatic pressure at hadal depths ranges from 600 to 1,100 atmospheres – equivalent to placing one-tonne on the end of your finger.

But this environment is entirely normal to the organisms that live there. Hadal inhabitants have a suite of biochemical, morphological and behavioral adaptions that allow them to thrive in the trenches. Studying these ecosystems is not an easy task – which is why the hadal zone has been understudied compared to shallower parts of the ocean.

In 2018 two international research expeditions focused on the southern portion of the Atacama Trench. Scientists first set off on the Chilean vessel, RV Cabo de Hornos, to study the deepest part of the trench, Richard’s Deep, as part of the Atacamex expedition.

A month later, scientists on the German vessel, RV Sonne, studied the wider trench ecosystem, sampling from 2,500 metres to Richard’s Deep.

During the expeditions, unmanned submersibles called landers were deployed. Landers were equipped with robust deep-sea imaging equipment and baited traps to bring animals up for closer inspection.

Both expeditions were a success and collected hundreds of hours of footage and thousands of amphipods – including E. atacamensis – as well as a new species of snailfish, affectionately nicknamed the “Little Purple Lovely” until its official scientific name is decided.

Once the specimens were back on land, the detailed work to sort, measure, identify and describe new species commenced. E. atacamensis is a member of a well-studied deep-sea genus (Eurythenes), which is notorious for what is known as cryptic speciation. In other words, when it is hard to visually tell one species from another.

The fantastic photographs of E. atacamensis were actually taken back in a 2009 expedition to the trench.

At the time, it was first identified as E. gryllus. With the new 2018 specimens, we accounted for cryptic speciation by applying an integrative taxonomy approach – pairing traditional morphology (the detailed study of an organism’s shape) with DNA barcoding. This latest research showed it was actually a different and undescribed species.

This taxonomic process helped us categorize organisms so we could more easily communicate the biological information. Together, the detailed visual assessment and genetics gave us a clear result that E. atacamensis was a new species.

Once confident in the data, we selected several individuals to be described and illustrated. These individuals are called type specimens – the most important of which is the holotype or the “name-bearing” specimen. We chose the name atacamensis in tribute to its home.

This discovery is another piece in the puzzle of understanding the world that we live in and the subtle interactions between organisms and their environment. It helps us understand how life thrives in the deepest parts of the ocean, under conditions that seem impossible to terrestrial mammals like us.

It also gives us a glimpse into the hadal zone – not an extreme habitat bereft of life, but one filled with extraordinary biodiversity.

Johanna Weston, PhD Marine Science candidate, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

#Nature

[news-wtf]

Eurythenes atacamensis is an amphipod, a type of crustacean closely related to a shrimp, endemic to the Peru-Chile Trench (also known as the Atacama Trench). Measuring more than 8cm in length, it is nearly twice the size of its nearest relative, making it a giant.

Spanning an extensive vertical range, juveniles and adults can be found in the trench between 4,974 to 8,081 meters. This includes the deepest point, known as Richard’s Deep.

It is one of the most abundant members of the trench community, joining a trio of snailfish and long-legged, spider-like isopods. As a scavenger, this amphipod plays a critical role within the food web by intercepting and redistributing food sinking down from above. They quickly detect and consume new carrion, like the mackerel bait we used to coax individuals into the trap. Unfortunately, they can accidentally ingest microplastics too.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from World Wildlife Fund:

The Marianas Trench is the deepest trench in the world, at 11,034 meters (36,201 feet) deep. If placed in the trench, Mount Everest’s peak would still come up 2,000 meters short of reaching the ocean’s surface. Though the Marianas Trench was established as a Marine National Monument, plastic pollution has managed to find its way to the bottom of the trench, where explorers have found it littering the ocean floor.

As part of an expedition to the Marianas Trench in 2014, a team of scientists discovered a new species. Located about 6,900 meters below the ocean surface, one particular new specimen of crustacean was alarmingly already polluted with plastic before it was even known to science. As a result, the scientists dubbed the new species Eurythenes plasticus.

With support from WWF in analyzing the newly discovered deep-sea amphipod specimens, scientists found a 0.65mm large microfiber, 80% similar to PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) in one of the individuals. PET is a substance found in a variety of commonly used household items, such as water bottles and workout clothes.

More than 270 species of wildlife have been adversely affected by plastic pollution. About 90% of seabirds are estimated to have plastic in their stomach, and more than 100,000 marine mammals are killed by plastic debris each year. While plastic contamination in animals is not a new occurrence, unfortunately, the presence of plastic pollutants in a newly discovered species, in an area of our planet that we have yet to fully explore, makes this news particularly unsettling.

[siendoeco]

Parece que la charla sobre el plástico nunca se acaba ¿no?⁣ ⁣⁣ Hoy les dejo esta pequeña definición sobre "qué son los microplásticos" y aunque sean micro el impacto que tienen en el ambiente y la biodiversidad es ENORME. ⁣⁣ Y me pareció interesante compartirla porque científicos descubrieron una nueva especie de crustáceo. ⁣ En la fosa de las Marianas, la zona más profunda del óceano, a 7 km de la superficie encontraron a estos pequeños ejemplares. Y lo más loco de todo es que uno de crustáceos recolectados tenía una fibra de microplástico dentro, el 85% similar al plástico de tipo 1 PET.  ⁣⁣ A esta especie la bautizaron "EURYTHENES PLASTICUS", el grupo de científicos eligió este nombre para recalcar la importancia de controlar la producción, uso y descarte de este material.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Según WWF (El Fondo Mundial para la Naturaleza) más de 270 especies de vida silvestre han sido afectadas de alguna forma por la contaminación plástica. Y es lo suficientemente perturbador que una especie que no se conoc��a ya esté contaminada.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Esto nos deja en claro que es más que urgente y necesario que nos preguntemos ¿qué consumimos? ¿de qué está hecho? ¿qué impacto tiene?⁣⁣ El plástico si bien puede ser maravilloso para ciertas cosas, para otras simplemente no lo necesitamos y podemos reducir e incluso eliminar su uso.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ La definición es de la Bitácora de Viaje de @unplastify la descargué hace un tiempo y la releo cada tanto porque me parece muy didáctica y muy bien explicada. La pueden encontrar para descargar en su web 🙌🏻⁣ ⁣ ¿Qué ya cambiaste en tu vida para reducir tu uso del plástico?⁣ ⁣ Fuente: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/meet-the-newly-discovered-ocean-species-plastic

[typhlonectes]

Newly Discovered Deep-Sea Creature Named After Plastic Found In Its Gut

Eurythenes plasticus, a new species of amphipod, small to medium-sized crustaceans found in aquatic environments worldwide, described in an article published in the journal Zootaxa, was named by the British researchers after the plastic pollution found in its guts.

The approximately two inches in length shrimp-like animal was caught at a depth of 20,000 feet in the Mariana Trench. The Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean is the deepest point on Earth's surface, reaching more than 36,000 feet (11.000 meters) deep...

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2020/03/05/newly-discovered-deep-sea-creature-named-after-plastic-found-in-its-guts/

[lafamamusic]

El sorprendente descubrimiento en lo más profundo del océano de una especie con partículas de plástico en su organismo

El sorprendente descubrimiento en lo más profundo del océano de una especie con partículas de plástico en su organismo

Científicos descubrieron una nueva especie marina en lo más profundo del océano y eligieron su nombre en “homenaje” al plástico que se ha encontrado en su organismo. Así que lo llamaron Eurythenes plasticus, como una forma de llamar la atención sobre el impacto de la contaminación por plástico que afecta a miles de especies marinas, incluso aquellas que viven siete kilómetros bajo el nivel del…

[tonin-terets]

WWF - Eurythenes Plasticus from SEHSUCHT on Vimeo.

The ocean plastic problem goes deep. Eurythenes Plasticus is a newly discovered species, the first in history that has been named after the ocean plastic that contaminates it. Although it lives far away and at great depths, microplastics were already detected in the body of the amphipod when it was discovered.

Together with BBDO Germany, we helped to create a global campaign for the WWF to support their efforts to combat plastic pollution of our oceans.

CREDITS:

Client: WWF Agency: BBDO, Dusseldorf Production Company: Sehsucht, Hamburg Director: Hans-Christoph Schultheiss Composer: Alex Komlew

[todropscience]

Usually, amphipods are small, with a shrimp-like shapes, these crustaceans are found mostly marine and freshwater ecosystems. But a new species discovered in the Atacama Trench, in front of the Atacama desert, northern Chile, has shown a new exception to the rule.

The Eurythenes atacamensis is a very large amphipod species, with a maximum observed length 8.3 cm. Despite the extreme environmental conditions of high pressure, low temperature, and limited food availability, this species is considered abundant in deep sea ecosystems in the Atacama trench, and feed mainly in carrion. This finding highlights that even dominant and ecologically important species are still being discovered within the deep sea.  

Photo: Eurythenes atacamensis, female, juvenile, intersex and male desposited at the  MNHNCL. Size presented here is nearly close to real size.

Reference (Open Access):  Weston. et al. 2021. Eurythenes atacamensis sp. nov. (Crustacea: Amphipoda) exhibits ontogenetic vertical stratification across abyssal and hadal depths in the Atacama Trench, eastern South Pacific Ocean. Mar. Biodivers.

Photo description: Four Eurythenes atacamensis amphipods in near real size are show in a black fond. The size is big, and one big could fit in an adult hand.

[onemanjury]

Name: Eurythenes plasticus

Client: WWF

Agency: BBDO Group Germany GmbH

Award Prediction: Grand Prix Award Result: Gold

[kartikdutt]

WWF - Eurythenes Plasticus (Case Film) from SEHSUCHT on Vimeo.

The ocean plastic problem goes deep. Eurythenes Plasticus is a newly discovered species, the first in history that has been named after the ocean plastic that contaminates it. Although it lives far away and at great depths, microplastics were already detected in the body of the amphipod when it was discovered.

Together with BBDO Germany, we helped to create a global campaign for the WWF to support their efforts to combat plastic pollution of our oceans. Check out the Cinema Ad here: vimeo.com/408503491

CREDITS:

Client: WWF Agency: BBDO, Dusseldorf Production Company: Sehsucht, Hamburg Case Film: BBDO CraftWork

[mahadurga-blog]

WHEN ARE WE GOING TO WAKE UP. 

[educationforconservation]

Alarming news: This newly discovered crustacean, found in the Marianas Trench, came into contact with plastic before we even knew the species existed. As a result, the scientists dubbed the new species Eurythenes plasticus. Plastics have now officially entered the taxonomic record as a new species. More than 270 species of wildlife have already been adversely affected by plastic pollution and the discovery of plastic pollutants in a newly discovered species found in the deepest place in the world makes this news particularly unsettling. ~ Please Help Others Learn To Use Less #Plastic 🌍Sharing Your Tips Helps Everyone Become #PlasticFree & #FutureReady !!! Join Us & Help Others, We Believe Together We Can Fight #PlasticPolution & #ClimateCrisis ⁣ Please DM your plastic pollution solutions! ~ 1-Stop using plastic straws, even in restaurants. If a straw is a must, purchase a reusable straw alternative.⁣ ~ 2-Use a reusable produce bag. A single plastic bag can take 1,000 years to degrade. Purchase or make your own reusable produce bag and be sure to wash them often! ~ ⁣ 3-Give up gum. Gum is made of a synthetic rubber, aka plastic.~⁣ ⁣ 4-Buy boxes instead of bottles. Often, products like laundry detergent come in cardboard which is more easily recycled than plastic.⁣~ ⁣ 5-Purchase food, like cereal, pasta, and rice from bulk bins and fill a reusable bag or container. You save money and unnecessary packaging. ⁣~ ⁣ 6-Reuse containers for storing leftovers or shopping in bulk.⁣~ 7-Use a reusable bottle or mug for your beverages, even when ordering from a to-go or coffee shop.⁣ ~ 8- Separate plastic lids from the bottles before putting it inside of the recycling bin! This will increase the chance of it being recycled! We need a common standard in all municipalities! ~ 9- See you tip here! ~ ⁣ It’s Our Planet...Our Responsibility!!!🐯💞♻️🌎 EducationForConservation.org #EducationForConservation #ClimateCrisisUpdate #ClimateCrisisKills #ClimateRisk2020 #ItsOurFuture #WiseWords #DoGood #Water #Live 🌍 ~ (at Planet Earth) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9XMYBrnuCq/?igshid=2tupqagl22gm