A dead whale gifted the world of marine discovery with a new species of sea anemone. Dead whales generally provide temporary but important nutrition boosts and habitats for much deep-sea lives. But, it is known for the first time that the filter-feeding marine animals live in a so-called whale fall!
It is off the coast of Monterey, California, the carcass of a whale that sunk to the ocean floor is amazingly found with a new anemone species, called Anthosactis pearseae.
A dead whale is always an “energy-factory” for aquatic creatures as the bones generally last anywhere from 60 to 100 years leading to their bacterial break down releasing sulfur, though the flesh decomposes within weeks.
The release of this sulfur provides the aquatic creatures with building energy.
The newly found anemone is small and white and is roughly cube-shaped, of the size of a human molar.
Hey! Next time you happen to come across this anemone in a lab, don’t mistake it as a tooth!
Judge them by their distinctive small tentacles on one of its sides, whose lengths are uniquely uniform.
