Researchers have observed the fascinating burrowing and feeding behaviour of a deep-sea anemone (Iosactis vagabunda) on the on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (PAP), nearly 5,000 metres deep in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean.
“We used time-lapse photography to observe 18 individuals over a period of approximately 20 months at 8-hour intervals, and one individual over 2 weeks at 20-minute intervals,” the scientists say in the new study, published in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers.
The time-lapse photos allowed the researchers to gain insights into the species’ burrowing behaviour – something that’s not possible through still photographs.
“In each burrow move, the animal disappears from view by retreating into its burrow, then a small mound appears a short distance from the original burrow,” says the study. “This mound grows and is broken along the crest before the animal emerges from the apex of the mound, tentacles first, and establishes itself in the new burrow with its disk flush with the sediment surface and tentacles extended.”
They also saw the anemone plucking organic particles from the water with its tentacles and bringing them to its mouth to eat.
Image and video credit: Jennifer M. Durden, Brian J. Bett, Henry A. Ruhl, “The hemisessile lifestyle and feeding strategies of Iosactis vagabunda (Actiniaria, Iosactiidae), a dominant megafaunal species of the Porcupine Abyssal Plain,” Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers.
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