Scientists exploring the deepest waters off the coast of Northern California have discovered an unusual underwater nursery where creatures brood eggs on the ocean floor, much as nesting birds sit on eggs on land. Large numbers of two different species, a big, ugly fish known as the blob sculpin and a football-sized octopus, were found huddled together guarding their respective egg masses about a mile below the ocean surface. Researchers described the nursery as a ‘‘biological hot spot’’ with some of the highest densities of fish and octopus ever seen in the deep sea, a generally sparsely populated environment about which relatively little is known.The findings were presented last month by researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) at a biology symposium in Oregon. "No-one had ever seen parental care in a deep sea fish before. This happens in shallow waters pretty often but we just don’t have many observations of deep sea species," said Jeffrey Drazen, a deep-sea biologist with MBARI. "For the first time we have a place where we can predictably observe reproductive biology in deep sea animals."

The nursery was first discovered three years ago and has been monitored annually using the research institute’s remotely operated vehicle, the Tiburon, a small, car-like machine that can transfer data, samples, pictures and live video through a cable attached to a boat.

View: Full Article | Source: Santa Cruz Sentinal