New anemone discovered in waters off Australia is named after Ridley Scott’s Alien antagonist Xenomorph
- Epizoanthus xenomorphoideus was discovered in waters off Japan and Australia
- The ‘alien fish’ can be found in ocean depths between 250m and 1100m
- The discovery creates great uncertainty of life deep beneath the sea
Australian and Japanese scientists have discovered an ‘alien’ fish at the bottom of the ocean.
They have named the deep sea anemone after the fictional ‘face hugger’ xenomorph from the 1979 movie Alien because of its close resemblance to the character.
The species has a symbiotic relationship with hermit crabs and is found at depths between 250m and 1,100m in waters off Japan and Australia, scientists say.
The fish has officially been named Epizoanthus xenomorphoideus.
The fish has officially been named Epizoanthus xenomorphoideus and was found at depths between of 250m and 1100m in waters off Japan and Australia
The Queensland Museum’s Dr Merrick Ekins said the fish latches onto hermit crabs.
‘When this happens, Epizaoanthus produces a pseudo-shell that grows with the hermit crab, eliminating the need for the hermit crab to search for a new empty shell,’ Dr Ekins said.
This relationship may be a by-product of the great uncertainty of life deep beneath the sea.
Researcher Hioki Kise from Japan’s University of the Ryukyus said the combined relationship with hermit crabs begs the question of what other sea creatures may be undiscovered in the ocean.
‘The deep sea harbours a very high number of species, including many not yet discovered.’
The research was recently published in the journal Systematics and Biodiversity.
They have named the deep sea animal after the fictional ‘face hugger’ xenomorph alien (pictured) from the 1979 movie Alien because of its resemblance