Did You See This?

Name That Rare Aquatic Creature

NOAA scientists play an underwater name game.

In the video above, three scientists with NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research remotely explore places off the coast of Hawaii that no one has ever seen before.

The humans take turns identifying the strange and amazing creatures as they float by. Among the lifeforms spotted are a henricia, a slime star; pycnogonid; bolosoma; polychelid; freyaster; a caulophacus; and a pythonaster—of which there are apparently only six. And mind you, that’s not six types—there are only six known pythonasters total.

There’s also a giant sponge that’s bigger than NOAA’s ROV.

The game continues until the explorers come across a long eel-like visitor that has all three of them stumped. After that, the scientists stop showing off, satisfied with letting the otherworldly life forms just be, incredible as they are.