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A team of researchers recently identified Dulcibella camanchaca, a new species of amphipod, in the Atacama Trench off South America's western coast.

What is 'Darkness' Dulcibella Camanchaca?

Dulcibella camanchaca is a new predatory amphoid species that has been classified in the Eusiridae family. It represents a newly identified genus that represents a significant addition to the catalog of deep-sea biodiversity. Its distinct genetic makeup and morphology distinguish it from other amphipods in the region.

Features:

• It follows the tradition of referring to characters from the 17th-century Spanish novel Don Quixote.
• The species name "camanchaca", meaning "dark" in the Indigenous languages ​​of the Andes region, reflects the amphipod's light-free, deep-ocean habitat.
• Measures: 4 centimeters
• Dulcibella camanchaca is larger than its closest relatives and exhibits unique features such as raptorial appendages called gnathopods, used to hunt smaller organisms.
• Unlike amphibians that are commonly found in trenches, this species actively prey on other amphibians that play a key role in the deep-sea food web.
• It is a fast-swimming predator that we named after 'dark' in the languages ​​of the Andean The amphibian's bright coloration, common among deep-sea species, enhances its ability to thrive in its pitch-black environment.

About The Atacama Trench

The Peru–Chile Trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, is an oceanic trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 160 kilometers off the coast of Peru and Chile.

It reaches a maximum depth of 8,065 m below sea level at Richards Deep and is approximately 5,900 km long. It covers an area of ​​approximately 590,000 km2.

The trench marks the boundary between the subducting Nazca plate and the overriding South American plate.

Source:

Economic Times