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    Researchers discover new ocean predator in the Atacama Trench

    (phys.org)
    60 points wglb | 22 comments | 17 Dec 24 20:42 UTC | HN request time: 1.242s | source | bottom
    1. wglb ◴[17 Dec 24 20:42 UTC] No.42445105[source]▶
    Referenced paper https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772000.2024.2...
    2. Scarblac ◴[21 Dec 24 16:27 UTC] No.42480524[source]▶
    Is its head on the left or the right?
    replies(3): >>42480717 #>>42480747 #>>42481166 #
    3. Gys ◴[21 Dec 24 16:48 UTC] No.42480658[source]▶
    > At nearly 4 centimeters in length, this crustacean uses specialized raptorial appendages to capture and prey upon smaller amphipod species in the Atacama (Peru-Chile) Trench's food-limited realm.
    4. Loughla ◴[21 Dec 24 16:57 UTC] No.42480717[source]▶
    Left
    5. IG_Semmelweiss ◴[21 Dec 24 17:00 UTC] No.42480747[source]▶
    it looks like a shrimp, so its the left
    6. kelseyfrog ◴[21 Dec 24 18:05 UTC] No.42481130[source]▶
    Very unappetizing
    7. pvaldes ◴[21 Dec 24 18:11 UTC] No.42481166[source]▶
    Head is at the same side than the antenna and the eyes. Left.
    8. vouaobrasil ◴[21 Dec 24 18:18 UTC] No.42481228[source]▶
    Life is so diverse and beautiful!
    9. maxFlow ◴[21 Dec 24 18:31 UTC] No.42481291[source]▶
    Getting Lovecraftian vibes.
    10. usrusr ◴[21 Dec 24 19:10 UTC] No.42481539[source]▶
    Predator sounds dramatic, but there really isn't much non-microscopic life in the oceans that isn't predatorial. Large herbivores are land-evolved.
    replies(2): >>42481766 #>>42482114 #
    11. throwaway48476 ◴[21 Dec 24 19:43 UTC] No.42481734[source]▶
    It's unfortunate that there's no in situ pictures included. It looks like the blob fish which is only blob shape when not under ocean deep pressure.
    12. PittleyDunkin ◴[21 Dec 24 19:48 UTC] No.42481766[source]▶
    Would you consider the blue whale to be a carnivore, then?
    replies(2): >>42481902 #>>42481918 #
    13. ungreased0675 ◴[21 Dec 24 20:02 UTC] No.42481877[source]▶
    I wonder what they taste like.
    replies(1): >>42481979 #
    14. SaggyDoomSr ◴[21 Dec 24 20:05 UTC] No.42481902{3}[source]▶
    blue whales eat krill, almost exclusively. so... yeah, definitely carnivores. i don't think there are any herbivore whales.
    15. ternnoburn ◴[21 Dec 24 20:07 UTC] No.42481918{3}[source]▶
    Considering they eat crustaceans, predominantly, wouldn't you?
    replies(1): >>42483752 #
    16. preisschild ◴[21 Dec 24 20:17 UTC] No.42481979[source]▶
    Show them who the real apex predator is :)
    17. undebuggable ◴[21 Dec 24 20:26 UTC] No.42482032[source]▶
    I presume on the surface it looks nothing like in the ocean depths where it's under enormous pressure.
    18. dudeinjapan ◴[21 Dec 24 20:30 UTC] No.42482059[source]▶
    They must have reached R’lyeh
    19. adrian_b ◴[21 Dec 24 20:36 UTC] No.42482114[source]▶
    While there are no herbivores there, many animals at that depth are suspension feeders or deposit feeders, i.e. they filter the water or the mud for either alive micro-organisms or for organic substances that come from the decomposition of dead animals or algae.

    At that depth an important food source is formed by the dead bodies or parts of bodies of various big or small animals, which fall from shallower water after their death.

    Because at high depths there is no primary production in most places (with the exception of vents where free dihydrogen or dihydrogen sulfide may feed bacteria), most animals must eat the dead organic matter that falls from above.

    Predators that eat alive animals from that depth must be much fewer than the animals which eat dead matter, otherwise they will die of hunger.

    20. trebligdivad ◴[21 Dec 24 21:10 UTC] No.42482318[source]▶
    two nice words in there that are new to me; 'hadal' and raptorial'
    21. PittleyDunkin ◴[22 Dec 24 01:26 UTC] No.42483752{4}[source]▶
    Not really. It seems to me term filter feeder exists outside the whole carnivore/herbivore dynamic, which seems like less of a dietary thing and more of a behavioral thing anyway (though of course many animals are simply unable to digest stuff like cellulose, so it is also dietary... but then again these things are messy)