New Species Of Tiny Glowing Lanternshark And Ghost-Like Crab Discovered In Deep Sea

Two new species have been discovered swimming off the coast of Western Australia and, like all deep-sea beasties, they are pretty unusual. Say hello to a brand new species of lanternshark that glows in the dark, and a tiny porcelain crab that wouldn’t look out of place next to your fancy crockery. 

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The specimens were collected in 2022 by CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator. The new shark species, the newly named West Australian lanternshark (Etmopterus westraliensis), is actually the third new shark species to be discovered on this voyage. 

"Lanternsharks are an amazing group of sharks, and this new species was found at depths to 610 metres [2,000 feet] during biodiversity surveys for Parks Australia in the Gascoyne Marine Park area off Western Australia," said Dr Will White, an ichthyologist from the CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection and study co-author, in a statement. 

The shark only measures 40.7 centimeters (15 inches) with a slender body and small dorsal fins. It also has large eyes to help it see in the dark of the ocean. However the most exciting feature of the shark is the photophores found on its belly that make it bioluminescent, meaning it glows!

The porcelain crab is also very small, being only 15 millimeters (just over half an inch) long. However, this helps it hide from predators, and the opalescent white coloring only adds to the camouflage. They are so well hidden, in fact, that this represents just the third member of this genus to ever be discovered. 

“The new species of porcelain crab lives a symbiotic life with sea pens, which are a group of soft corals related to sea fans, where they will hide among the ‘leaves’ of the host,” said Dr Andrew Hosie, Curator of Aquatic Zoology from the Western Australian Museum, who was involved in describing the new crab species.

The crab was discovered at 122 meters deep (400 feet) along the Ningaloo coast. “Porcelain crabs are known as filter feeders, feeding on plankton by using modified mouthparts with long hairs to sweep the water for small pieces of food such as plankton, rather than the typical crab method of grabbing and pinching food with their claws,” Dr Hosie said.

The 2022 voyage has turned up almost 20 new-to-science species including these two recent additions and a flapjack octopus. The researchers think there could be as many as 600 species still to be described and are already planning another RV Investigator mission to explore Coral Sea Marine Park and learn more about the deep-sea biodiversity there. 

The description of the new crab species is published in Ecology and Evolution, and the new shark species is published in the Journal of Fish Biology.