A University of Manitoba graduate student has discovered a mini monster in Canada’s arctic.
Aurelie Delaforge found a tiny crustacean in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. It’s a new form of zooplankton and is part of the Monstrilloida family, which is derived from the word “monster.”
The species is mostly translucent, has eight legs, one weak eye, no mouth, and two antennas. It is only 2 millimetres long, the U of M said.
There are more than 160 different Monstrilloida zooplankton around the world, but Delaforge’s discovery marks the first species from the Monstrilloida family to be found in Canada’s arctic.
Delaforge did her masters back home in France, where she studied small ocean animals and plants. This allowed her to recognize the species.
Delaforge captured the species while taking samples from the ocean for her PhD thesis on what causes plankton blooms under the sea ice. Coincidentally, she took the samples during May and June, which is the two month window for these animals to take adult form. During the rest of the year, these species would be nearly invisible, the U of M said.
She sent the specimen to Mexico where it was confirmed to be a Monstrilloida.
“When we study the Arctic, there are still things we don’t know. This is a good example,” Delaforge said in a release. “I find this pretty cool. It’s not an everyday thing, discovering new species and it feels incredible.”
