Scientists Just Found an Alien-Like Sea Predator Under the Pacific Ocean — And Named It ‘Darkness’

Studying extreme ecosystems on our own planet is still one of the hardest tasks for our civilization. We can look deep within the space, but scientists have estimated that we have only explored 5% to 20% of our oceans. That is why there are still a lot of species under these waters that we have not come across yet, such as this alien-like sea predator that was found under the Pacific Ocean.

A Mysterious Creature from the Depths

In the Atacama Trench, off the coast of Chile, while exploring the oceans, scientists have discovered a new sea creature named Dulcibella camanchaca. It was found nearly 26,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean, a very harsh environment to exist.

The name scientists gave it camanchaca, means ‘darkness’ in local South American languages. The name represents its habitat, a completely dark place that sunlight can’t reach, but is still very rich in biodiversity, where creatures like camanchaca live.

Read more: The Sun

Unique Features and Behavior

Unlike most amphipods, which are often referred to as scuds or sideswimmers, because they move like kangaroos underwater, mostly hopping, camanchaca is a fast-swimming predator that hunts for food and does not scavenge.

The arms you see in these images are specialized appendages called gnathopods, and that is what they use to capture and eat their prey. They are also very small animals, about 4cm or less in length; however, they are still bigger than their other relatives, which makes them a newly identified genus.

Image Credits: Johanna Weston, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Discovery Expedition

Methane Seeps | Living Fossils of the Atacama Trench (ENGLISH)

Similar to this video above, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Instituto Milenio de Oceanografía collaborated to conduct an expedition in the Atacama trench to explore its rich biodiversity. That is when they found the new sea creature, camanchaca, during the 2023 Integrated Deep-Ocean Observing System (IDOOS) exploration.

The researchers used a device that could travel deep within the sea, which included baited traps to collect specimens to study. Their expedition to discover camanchaca was done in the hadal zone, the deepest part of the ocean.

Read more: Science Alert

Significance of the Discovery

The findings in this discovery highlight that there is a rich biodiversity in the Atacama trench under the Pacific Ocean, despite scientists expecting few or no species could survive in such extreme, pitch-black depths where darkness is everywhere.

Our understanding of life on planet Earth will greatly help us discover it from deep space or environments we don’t usually expect it to be in. If sea creatures like camanchaca can thrive in the deepest part of the ocean, which is also one of the harshest places on Earth, then life might have been able to find a way in other extreme places.

The Strangest Creatures of the Ocean | BBC Earth

Author's Final Thoughts

This discovery reminds us that we still really only know a few things about our ocean. There might be hundreds or thousands of species down there that we have not encountered yet. While space exploration often gets more attention, the deep ocean also holds just as much mystery, and sometimes even more terrifying creatures.

The fact that scientists have discovered camanchaca at nearly 26,000 feet under the surface, with no sunlight reaching it, and the crushing pressure all around the environment, showcases just how adaptable and resilient nature can really be.

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