The summits of Australia's ancient underwater volcanoes are teeming with marine life, according to a recent mapping expedition there.

The first-ever detailed seafloor mapping of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park in Australia by researchers working with the Museums Victoria Research Institute has revealed massive flat-topped ancient sea mountains flanked by volcanic cones, ridges, and canyons created by sand avalanches that crashed down onto the deep ocean floor.

The research vessel (RV) Investigator operated by CSIRO, which recently made its way back to Henderson port in Western Australia, also investigated previously unrecognized deep-sea life in the Indian Ocean Territories.

Fish samples have been taken from depths of up to 5 kilometers below the surface, and underwater video was taken throughout its 35-day, a variety of fish species swarming the seamount summits were revealed in the 11,000 km journey.

Expedition Highlights:

  • A previously unidentified blind eel with transparent, loose, gelatinous skin was discovered at a depth of about 5 km. They have underdeveloped eyes and, uncharacteristically for a fish, the young are borne alive by the females.
  • Deep-sea batfishes glide across the ocean floor on their fins that resemble arms. To draw prey, they have a miniature "fishing lure" in a tiny hollow on their snout.
  • The Tribute Spiderfish has extraordinarily long lower fins with thickened tips that enable it to prop up high off the bottom like it's on stilts, giving it the ideal height to feed on tiny prawns that drift by in the current.
  • The peculiar Pelican Eel can swallow large objects thanks to its expandable stomach and tiny head located in front of its massive jaws. Pelican eels have light-attracting organs on the tip of their tails and are covered in black, velvety skin.
  • The voracious deep-sea predators known as highfin lizard fish have mouths full of long, sharp teeth. They are a species of fish that have simultaneous functional female and male reproductive tissue in their ovotestis, making them simultaneous hermaphrodites.
  • The ravenous Sloane's Viperfish has enormous teeth that resemble fans and are visible even with its mouth closed. To draw in prey, viperfish have lines of light organs along their underside and an extremely long upper fin with light organs at the tip.
  • The Slender Snipe Eel can be located up to 4 km beneath the surface of the ocean. It only weighs 50 grams and can reach a length of a meter with its long, thread-like tail. The tiny hooked teeth that cover the curved, always open jaws are used to snatch up their crustacean prey.
  • Sea urchins known as pancake sea urchins have a dainty skeleton that flattens out when they are out of the water. Poison is at the tips of the spines.
  • Pumice stones most likely came from Indonesia's Krakatoa eruption in 1883.

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New Species, New Maps

Tim O'Hara, the chief scientist of the expedition from Museum Victoria Research Institute, said that in the remote marine park, they have found an astounding variety of potentially new species.

According to CSIRO, Parks Australia will use its maps, data, and images moving forward to manage the new marine park.

The team created meticulous three-dimensional images of the enormous mountain that lies beneath the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, which had never before been meticulously mapped.

In the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park, very little high-resolution mapping was done before this voyage, according to Nelson Kuna, one of two hydrographic surveyors from the CSIRO on board, Newsbreak reports.

According to Kuna, The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are depicted as the twin peaks of a tremendous seamount that reaches nearly 5000m from the seafloor, and the data set now encompasses a sizeable portion of the new marine park.

The scientists on board have live-streamed their discoveries to students at schools across the nation. Bush Blitz is funding this expedition and will be live-streaming into classrooms using RV Investigator's technology. More than 850 students and community members have been reached by Bush Blitz throughout Australia during the voyage, from Tasmania towards the Torres Strait, and from Alice Springs through Norfolk Island, Phys Org reports.

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