Dulcibella Camanchaca: A New Predator Found in the Deepest Part of the Atacama Trench
The Atacama Trench, located off the coasts of Peru and Chile, is one of the deepest oceanic regions on Earth. Recent discoveries have confirmed that this region could be an ecological haven, with new species and even new genera being found. One such discovery is the crustacean predator "Dulcibella camanchaca," which was named after the word for "darkness" in the languages of the Andes region. This four-centimeter-long predator was discovered at a depth of around 8,000 meters, well into the Hadal zone. Despite its small size, it is capable of withstanding pressures up to 800 times stronger than those found on land. The discovery was made by scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) and the Universidad de Concepción in Chile, who collected four specimens from one of the deepest trenches in the world. The Atacama Trench stretches about 3700 miles (6000 kilometers) along the coast, but off the coast of northern Chile, it plunges to almost 25,246 feet (8000 m) below the surface. The researchers who discovered "Dulcibella camanchaca" described their findings in the journal Systematics and Biodiversity. The DNA and morphology data of this new species pointed to it being a new genus, emphasizing the Atacama Trench as an endemic hotspot. This finding underscores the importance of continued deep-ocean exploration, particularly in Chile's front yard. More discoveries are expected as we continue to study the Atacama Trench. The discovery of "Dulcibella camanchaca" has implications for understanding life in extreme environments. If something so small can persevere in conditions as adverse as those in the Hadal zone, it raises the possibility that NASA's Europa Clipper has a non-zero chance of finding conditions that could support life in the vast, salty ocean of a whole different world. The Europa Clipper launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 14, 2024, with a mission to assess Jupiter's fourth largest moon.
