by A team of scientists from the University of Rhode Island and the Charles Darwin Research Station exploring the seafloor northwest of the Galapagos Islands in 2015 made an unexpected discovery. Large numbers of egg cases of a deep-sea skate – relatives of sharks and rays – were observed adjacent to the hot water emitted from hydrothermal vents, which the scientists said the skates use to accelerate the development of the embryos.
It is the first time such behavior has been recorded in marine animals. The discovery is published this week in the journal Scientific Reports.
Brennan Phillips, URI assistant professor of ocean engineering, was leading the operations team of remotely-operated vehicle operators during the expedition to explore the underwater mountains around the Galapagos. He said they didn't recognize the significance of the aggregation of skate eggs until much later.
"We were on a really deep dive in a hydrothermally-active rift valley, with walls 30 meters tall on either side, and the ROV was meandering back and forth looking for vents," Phillips explained. "We started noticing all these egg cases, and we recorded their location and collected a few but then just kept going."
Later, when the egg locations were analyzed and compared to hydrothermal vent locations and recorded water temperatures, the scientists concluded that the eggs were likely intentionally placed by the skates where the water was warmer than average.
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It is the first time such behavior has been recorded in marine animals. The discovery is published this week in the journal Scientific Reports.
Brennan Phillips, URI assistant professor of ocean engineering, was leading the operations team of remotely-operated vehicle operators during the expedition to explore the underwater mountains around the Galapagos. He said they didn't recognize the significance of the aggregation of skate eggs until much later.
"We were on a really deep dive in a hydrothermally-active rift valley, with walls 30 meters tall on either side, and the ROV was meandering back and forth looking for vents," Phillips explained. "We started noticing all these egg cases, and we recorded their location and collected a few but then just kept going."
Later, when the egg locations were analyzed and compared to hydrothermal vent locations and recorded water temperatures, the scientists concluded that the eggs were likely intentionally placed by the skates where the water was warmer than average.
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