A remote-controlled underwater vehicle exploring the area around an oil platform off the coast of Mexico met this strange giant sea creature about a mile and a half below the surface. With ten legs dangling from what look like elbow joints, it was a pretty shocking sight to the vehicle operators. They captured this footage about a year ago, and passed it around via e-mail until somebody finally explained what it was.
Nov 25, 2008 02:44 PM
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A remote-controlled underwater vehicle exploring the area around an oil platform off the coast of Mexico met this strange giant sea creature about a mile and a half below the surface. With ten legs dangling from what look like elbow joints, it was a pretty shocking sight to the vehicle operators. They captured this footage about a year ago, and passed it around via e-mail until somebody finally explained what it was.
Called Magnapinna, these relatives of the squid have only been spotted a handful of times by vehicles like the one that recorded it here. Four of their bodies have been recovered by researchers, but were so badly damaged that it was hard for scientists to figure out their anatomy. What we do know is that they can grow to about 23 feet in length, about half the size of the biggest giant squid, and they have 10 long legs (instead of the normal squid setup of 8 short legs and 2 big tentacles).
Nobody is sure why their legs have that elbow-like crook in them, but researchers speculate that it could be to keep the legs from tangling as the creature drifts along catching prey in its long, long tentacles. Apparently these creatures are quite common in the dark depths of the ocean below 4,000 feet, and there are perhaps four subspecies.
So maybe this is the long-lost relative of the Cloverfield monster?
Alien-Like Squid with Elbows Filmed at Drilling Site [via National Geographic]
Send an email to Annalee Newitz, the author of this post, at annalee@io9.com.
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