Spiky 5-armed sea creature found hidden in rocky crevice off Spain. It’s a new species

Scientists aboard a research vessel off the coast of Spain sifted through the rubble dumped from a trawling net. Most of it was the standard catch: sand, sea sponges, some crustaceans.

But when they looked inside one rock, they discovered a new species.

Researchers dredged the seafloor of dozens of sites in the Mallorca Channel between 2018 and 2020 to survey habitats and sea life, according to a study published Feb. 28 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa.

In one sample, researchers found a spiny, five-armed brittle star that didn’t match any known records, the study said. They took a closer look and realized they’d discovered a new species: Ophiomyxa xispa, or the spark brittle star.

The spark brittle star has five spine-covered orange arms each measuring about 1.5 inches in length, researchers said. Its central brown body measures about a quarter of an inch across and is covered with “bright white spots.”

Photos show the spark brittle star’s orange coloring while alive and dulled yellow tones after being preserved. Its arms appear to trail alongside, wrapping and curling around each other.

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Spark brittle stars likely live on rocky bottoms of the deep sea seamounts between about 770 and 860 feet down, researchers said. One brittle star was found “hidden inside a small crevice in one of the rock fragments.”

Researchers said they named the new species after the Catalan word for spark, “xispa,” because of its “bright white spots.” Xispa is also the name of co-author Francesc Ordines’s dog.

Although similar-looking to sea stars, brittle stars belong to a different class of animals, according to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. Brittle stars are recognizable by their longer, thinner arms.

So far, only one spark brittle star has been found on a seamount in the Mallorca Channel, near Spain’s Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean Sea, the study said. Follow-up surveys could not find any more specimens.

The new species was identified by its arms, spines, body shape, coloring and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had at least 8.5% genetic divergence from other Ophiomyxa brittle stars.

The research team included Francesc Ordines, Sergio Ramírez-Amaro, Belén Calero, Maria Teresa Farriols and Enric Massutí.

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