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"A mighty mystery mollusc has finally been revealed. Captured by photographs but not conclusively studied until now Bathydevius caudactylus Robison and Haddock 2024 is a midwater gastropod whose identity and affinities had eluded definition for more than 20 years. Long seen on video and camera surveys in the midwater of the eastern Pacific Ocean and for years, simply referred to as the "mystery mollusc," Bathydevius caudactylus has a translucent white body topped with a large oral hood, an orangey red stomach and digestive gland, and a tail fringed with a dozen, finger-like projections that give the animal its specific epithet. The body of the mystery mollusc gives off blue bioluminescence.
Bruce Robison and Steven Haddock, scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), conducted the anatomical and genetic studies that finally solved the mystery, but their work has raised further intriguing questions. Bathydevius caudactylus is a nudibranch, an order of gastropods whose members are common in shallow water and in deep water benthic habitats but heretofore unknown in midwater ecosystems. Despite superficial similarities like a large oral hood, Bathydevius caudactylus is not closely related to the shallow-water hooded nudibranch Melibe, but instead represents an independent and early-diverging branch within nudibranchs. Other mysterious attributes for this mystery mollusc includes the absence of the rasping mouthplate (called a radula) and an extremely low rate of oxygen consumption, pointing to natural histories more like midwater floaters such as jellyfish and suggesting key, shared strategies for life in the deep open ocean.
The mystery is not yet fully solved."
What is particularly interesting is that Bathydevius caudactylus feeds on various crustaceans!
Original source:
Robison, B. H.; Haddock, S. H. (2024).
Discovery and description of a remarkable bathypelagic nudibranch, Bathydevius caudactylus, gen. et. sp. nov. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 214: 104414: 1-8., available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2024.104414
Bruce Robison and Steven Haddock, scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), conducted the anatomical and genetic studies that finally solved the mystery, but their work has raised further intriguing questions. Bathydevius caudactylus is a nudibranch, an order of gastropods whose members are common in shallow water and in deep water benthic habitats but heretofore unknown in midwater ecosystems. Despite superficial similarities like a large oral hood, Bathydevius caudactylus is not closely related to the shallow-water hooded nudibranch Melibe, but instead represents an independent and early-diverging branch within nudibranchs. Other mysterious attributes for this mystery mollusc includes the absence of the rasping mouthplate (called a radula) and an extremely low rate of oxygen consumption, pointing to natural histories more like midwater floaters such as jellyfish and suggesting key, shared strategies for life in the deep open ocean.
The mystery is not yet fully solved."
What is particularly interesting is that Bathydevius caudactylus feeds on various crustaceans!
Original source:
Robison, B. H.; Haddock, S. H. (2024).
Discovery and description of a remarkable bathypelagic nudibranch, Bathydevius caudactylus, gen. et. sp. nov. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 214: 104414: 1-8., available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2024.104414
