Duobrachium
| Sparks’ two-armed ctenophore | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Ctenophora |
| Class: | Tentaculata |
| Order: | Cydippida |
| Genus: | Duobrachium |
| Species: | D. D. sparksae
|
| Binomial name | |
| Duobrachium Duobrachium sparksae Ford, Bezio & Collins, 2020
| |
Duobrachium sparksae is a species of comb jelly (ctenophore) in the order Cydippida. It was discovered and identified based only on video footage.[1] It was first discovered at a depth of 3,910 metres (12,830 ft) off the coast of Puerto Rico in 2015.[1][2][3]
Physical characteristics
The animal has a rectangular shape when viewed in the tentacular plane, but oval from the perpendicular plane. It has two long tentacle arms which protrude from centre of the sides of the body, and extend downwards. These are about a third as long as the body. These arms encase retractable tentacles which are approximately 30–56 centimetres (12–22 in) long. The animals use these to adhere to the seafloor.
References
- ^ a b CNN, Lauren M. Johnson. "NOAA scientists discover a new species of a gelatinous animal in the waters near Puerto Rico". CNN. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Fisheries, NOAA (2020-11-20). "NOAA Scientists Virtually Discover New Species of Comb Jelly Near Puerto Rico | NOAA Fisheries". NOAA. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
- ^ Ford, Michael; Bezio, Nicholas; Collins, Allen (2020-11-18). "Duobrachium sparksae (incertae sedis Ctenophora Tentaculata Cydippida): A new genus and species of benthopelagic ctenophore seen at 3,910 m depth off the coast of Puerto Rico". Plankton and Benthos Research. 15 (4): 296–305. doi:10.3800/pbr.15.296. ISSN 1880-8247.