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There are a lot of things still waiting to be discovered in the underwater world. <strong>Divers</strong> make new discoveries all the time, but often don’t realize the importance of what they have discovered. But sometimes they do, and when they report their findings, new behaviors and sometimes entirely new species are added to the scientific record. Take, for example, a day last May when underwater videographer Jay Garbose came across something he had never seen before while on one of his local haunts off Juno Beach, Florida. Jay is not exactly green behind the ears, having worked for both National Geographic and The Discovery Channel. But what he found on that day was a creature unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Lying on the bottom was a long, thin organism that he estimated to be between seven and ten feet in length. In subsequent interviews Jay said that when he first saw it, he thought it was a sea cucumber... then he realized how big it was. Although scientists have now identified it as a new species of marine worm, they are baffled by what they have seen from Jay’s video. It’s not the Loch Ness Monster or the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but this new addition to marine taxonomy does have scientists scratching their heads. For now, researchers at the Smithsonian say it may be some sort of Nemertean worm, but they’re puzzled by some of its characteristics, namely its incredibly large 2 Strange thingS size. They’re simply calling it “undescribed.” I just call it Jay’s Worm. And it’s not the only strange worm-like creature in the ocean. I once ran across an equally baffling animal during one of my own diving adventures. It was 1994, and I was staying at the Anse Chastanet Resort on the island of St. Lucia, which is located mid way down the Caribbean’s Windward Island chain. It was there that I heard about a mysterious reef creature locals called the “Thing.” Say hello to the Caribbean’s heavy-weight of sea worms, the St. Lucia Thing (Eunice roussaei) By Walt Stearns I enjoy island tales as much as the next guy, but this one seemed especially improbable. A worm-like creature supposedly 15 feet in length and as big around as a man’s arm - extremely elusive, and it only came out at night. Oh yes, it is especially sensitive to dive lights. In one divemaster’s words, “Man, light make it snap back into its holes faster than a rubber band.” Never one to pass up a good mystery, www.underwaterjournal.com June/July 2007
Like all polycheates, marine worms belonging to the Phylum Annelida, the giant St.Lucia Thing’s (Eunice roussaei) body is divided into a repetitive sequence of round segments (reddish brown to purple with a pearl-like tint) separated by deep creases. Like a centipede, large cirri (appendages used for locomotion) and feather shape gills flank both sides of this huge marine worm. no matter how improbable it might seem, I planned a few night dives. Much to my surprise, I found that The Thing really did exist, and I was even able to get a picture of it! It was a fairly small specimen compared to what the divemasters had described - about four feet in length and as thick as my wrist. But it didn’t recoil from the light. Maybe it was sick. Excited by my discovery, I passed a few images on to my good friend Paul Humann. He was working on the second revision of his and Ned Deloach’s Reef Creature Identification book, so I figured if anyone could, Paul could identify it. As it turned out, this was a new species never before identified. The best any of the scientists were able to do was determine it belongs to the Phylum Annelida, meaning little rings, which is applied to most segmented worms. “Common earthworms, as well as many marine worms are members of this phylum,” according to Paul. This group’s most distinguishing characteristic is that their body is divided into a repetitive sequence of round segments. The marine variety are known as polycheates. Examples would include the beared fireworm (Hermodice carunculata) commonly called bristle worm. Differing on this creature, body segments of dark to reddish/purple brown with a pearl-like tint, separated by deep creases with large cirri (appendages used for locomotion) and feather shaped gills that are soft to the touch (yes, I touched one) running down both sides, looking sort of like a centipede. The identification of the Thing is tentative, as more taxonomic research needs to be done once viable specimens or tissue samples are obtained. Problem is not only are they nocturnal, they are still considered extremely rare, with only a handful sightings in Bonaire, Curacao and the Bahamas, in addition to St. Lucia. For the moment, all anyone can say is that it belongs to the Family of elongated worms Eunicidae, giving rise to its genies species name: Eunice roussaei. And that it inhabits deep recesses in the reef, and can grow up to six feet in length. The last part is speculative, since scientists are really not sure how big this animal grows. Who knows, there may be a 15-foot monster out there on the reef. It may be you who will find it. v www.underwaterjournal.com June/July 2007
Page 1 and 2: Issue 3 June/July 2007 - RebReatheR
Page 3 and 4: An Uncertain Future During my trave
Page 5 and 6: By Douglas Ebersole ClOSEd-CirCuiT
Page 7 and 8: About Time The other reason is time
Page 9 and 10: Dive Computers for the Recreational
Page 11 and 12: Adventure Diving It’s four thirty
Page 13 and 14: make maintaining a specific depth i
Page 15 and 16: pangas, the Solmar V positions its
Page 17 and 18: Left: For underwater photographers,
Page 19 and 20: The comfortable main salon features
Page 21 and 22: Stepping off the Republic IV, I beg
Page 23 and 24: In the waters of Florida’s east c
Page 25 and 26: Back in the Day When I hear some di
Page 27 and 28: 27 NEW Freeport, Grand Bahama Depar
Page 29 and 30: “It’s not a just a fishing prob
Page 31 and 32: What Are You Doing This Summer? You
Page 33 and 34: • Bahamas • Saba/St. Kitts •
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Page 39 and 40: Dive Florida America’s Underwater
Page 41: Hooked on Many a diver has a favori

- REBREATHERS - SPORT DIVERS ... - Stingray Divers

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