A 'Seuess-Like' Sea Creature - Fresh Catch Friday

Carnivorous Sea Squirt
Credit: Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory, WHOI/Jess Adkins, Caltech.

This is the first of what I hope will be a regular feature, Fresh Catch Friday. Every Friday I will post an interesting story and/or picture relevant to the aquatic world.

Today's Fresh Catch is of a newly discovered type of sea squirt. The carnivorous creature acts much like a Venus fly trap, catching fish as they swim by and trapping them inside its translucent body. The sea squirt pictured, 1.6 feet in length, was found in deep in Australian waters by a team of international scientists.

"It was truly one of those transcendent moments," said the cruise's lead scientist, Jess Adkins of Caltech, referring to the descents made by Jason. "We were flying — literally flying — over these deep-sea structures that look like English gardens, but are actually filled with all of these carnivorous, Seuss-like creatures that no one else has ever seen."

I really like the shape and transparency of this species! Check out the full article here.