The findings, published in the journal Organisms Diversity & Evolution, add to what scientists know about a group of animals few researchers have studied closely.<\/p>\n
The team gathered specimens on dives as deep as 59 feet between September 2023 and August 2024, at sites near Quadra Island, Vancouver, Bamfield, and Victoria.<\/p>\n
One species, Callipallene pilosuspedes, is named for the long spines lining its legs; the Latin name roughly means “hairy feet.” The other, Tanystylum kiixin, is named after an Indigenous village site near where researchers first collected it.<\/p>\n
Lead author Cormac Toler-Scott did the research as a master’s student in zoology at the university. He said some shallow-water sea spiders live as parasites on larger organisms, using “this weird apparatus called a proboscis to suck the juices out of their host.” Sea spiders are marine arthropods, and their relatives include horseshoe crabs, scorpions, and spiders.<\/p>\n
More background<\/p>\n
“I was interested in how sea spiders are impacted by climate change<\/a> and human disturbance, because marine invertebrates in the Salish Sea are particularly at-risk, and I couldn’t find anything,” Toler-Scott said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “That’s largely because people don’t know much about what species exist here and what their lifestyle is.”<\/p>\n What’s being done?<\/p>\n Before this study, no one had combined detailed imaging with genetic analysis to examine the Salish Sea’s sea spiders in such depth.<\/p>\n The team also produced the first DNA sequences for several species and put together a guide for identifying the region’s sea spiders.<\/p>\n The two newly described species are now listed in a global database.<\/p>\n Researchers found only one specimen of Callipallene pilosuspedes. Tanystylum kiixin, meanwhile, often had small parasites living on it, which Toler-Scott described as “an ecosystem within an ecosystem within an ecosystem.”<\/p>\n Additional species probably remain undiscovered. “I only had one field season but there’s definitely more diversity out there that we haven’t documented,” he said.<\/p>\n He added, “In order to understand how marine invertebrates are being impacted by things like climate change<\/a> and how we can better protect these key elements of the ecosystem, we have to be able to identify them.”<\/p>\n Where can I learn more?<\/p>\n These stories look at other unusual marine sightings and the pressures reshaping coastal ecosystems. They cover jellyfish strandings, marine heat stress, invasive invertebrates, and a rare deep-sea fish sighting.<\/p>\n \u2022 In Torquay, England, alien jellyfish wash up<\/a> along beaches amid soaring temperatures.<\/p>\n \u2022 Off S\u00e3o Paulo, marine heatwaves are threatening<\/a> bottom-of-the-food-chain species and regional fisheries.<\/p>\n \u2022 Across Europe, green crabs invading coastlines<\/a> are now being promoted as a sustainable meal.<\/p>\n \u2022 In northeast England, Tees Rivers Trust inspectors made a ‘leathery’ discovery<\/a> in an oyster pot.<\/p>\n \u2022 Near Tenerife in the Canary Islands, scientists document the jaw-dropping appearance<\/a> of a black devil anglerfish.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"Cool](\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/wp-content\/themes\/tcd\/assets\/images\/divider-icon-earth.svg\"){kind=icon}
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