综合《国家地理》、Live Science网站报道，一艘游轮的乘客们在南极半岛海岸附近潜水时，拍摄到了“幽灵”般的巨型深海水母。报道称，这种深海生物看起来像UFO宇宙飞船，底部拖着厚厚的丝带，游荡在海里……↓

(视频戳这里)
 

有网友看后表示，好像《哈利波特》里的“摄魂怪”，“深海恐惧症犯了”……

 

据报道，针对这种水母的一项新研究于今年1月30日发表在《极地研究》（Polar Research）杂志上。

研究显示，2022年年初，“维京远征号”的游客们在用潜水器潜水时拍下了这种水母。之后，游客向游轮上的海洋生物学家、该研究的第一作者丹尼尔·摩尔(Daniel M. Moore)展示了影像。摩尔立刻就认出来了是什么。他还表示，能够目击到这种生物十分罕见。
 

据了解，这种巨型水母的学名叫冥河水母（Stygiomedusa gigantea）, 是最大的深海无脊椎动物捕食者之一。研究人员估计游客拍下来的水母有近5米长，其中一只连触手体长至少达10米。

 

Rare sightings of giant phantom jellyfish — deep-sea creatures that look like UFO spaceships with thick ribbons streaming from their undersides — have been reported by cruise liner passengers who spotted the otherworldly animals off the coast of Antarctica, a new study published on Jan. 30 in the journal Polar Research shows.

The giant jellyfish, or Stygiomedusa gigantea, one of the deep sea's largest invertebrate predators, met the guests while they were riding in a submersible deployed by cruise line operator Viking in early 2022.

Researchers estimated that the jellyfish were longer than 16 feet, with one stretching to at least 33 feet in length, according to a study published Jan. 30 in the journal Polar Research.

Study first author Daniel Moore, a marine biologist and one of Viking's chief scientists, first realized guests had encountered the giant phantom when he saw a picture of one on a guest's camera. "I instantly recognized it for what it was and, given the rarity of sightings, was flooded with excitement," Moore told Live Science in an email.

冥河水母生活在除了北冰洋以外的所有海洋中。但由于这些神秘的生物通常在深海游荡，人类几乎看不到它们。

Giant Phantom jellyfish live in every ocean except for the Arctic Ocean. However, because these cryptic creatures typically swim deep below the surface, they are scarcely seen by humans.

摩尔表示，2022年游客与冥河水母的相遇，已经改变了人们对这种神秘深水物种的了解，尤其是其海洋栖息地的广度。通常，冥河水母在近6705米的水下被发现，但这些被游客拍下的却在79到274米的水域中游荡。

The 2022 encounters with giant phantom jellyfish are already changing what we know about this mystical deep-water species, Moore adds—particularly the breadth of its ocean habitat. Phantom jellyfish are usually found at nearly 22,000 feet, but these animals were swimming in waters of between 260 and 900 feet.

 

令人惊讶的是，在2022年1月初“维京远征号”目击到冥河水母后，2022年1月底，另一群游客也看到了一只冥河水母，随后有人在3月中旬又看到了一只。在2022年10月至2023年1月的旅游季节，潜水器又发现了7到8只。

Surprisingly, the first jellyfish sighting was not a one-off. Just a week later, in late January 2022, a different group of tourists also saw a phantom jellyfish, followed by one more, in mid-March. In the most recent tourist season, between October 2022 and January 2023, submersibles have spotted seven or eight more.

不过，科学家们对这些巨型无脊椎动物仍然知之甚少。它们生活在极地海洋黑暗、寒冷的半深海带（也叫“午夜区”midnight zone），据信，它们用波浪状的带状手臂捕捉和捕食浮游生物和小鱼。

Scientists still know very little about these giant invertebrates, which dwell in the polar oceans' dark, cold midnight zone and are believed to use their undulating, ribbon-like arms to capture and prey on plankton and small fish.

这种冥河水母旁边生活着一种叫做大洋极深海鳚的小鱼。在这种互惠互利的关系中，鱼得到了水母的保护，作为回报，它们可以吃掉附着在水母上的寄生虫，使水母免受疾病的侵袭。

The phantom jellyfish has been observed with a small fish—called a pelagic brotula, or Thalassobathia pelagica—living alongside it. In this mutually beneficial relationship, the fish receives shelter and protection in return for keeping the jellyfish disease-free by eating any parasites that attach to it.

至于为什么这种水母会出现在南极较浅的水域，摩尔推测它们可能是被洋流带来的，也可能是它们从深处浮上来，让自己暴露在阳光下，以清除额外的寄生虫。

As for why the large jellyfish are showing up in shallower Antarctic waters, Moore speculates they could be carried by currents, or perhaps come up from the depths to expose themselves to the sun to rid themselves of any additional parasites.

由于很难抵达且成本很高，南极48米（160英尺）以下的水域尚未被充分开发。如今，随着私人潜水器能够下降到300米（1000英尺）左右，“你可能是有史以来第一个看到海底特定区域的人” ，摩尔说。

Antarctic waters below 160 feet haven’t yet been well explored because they are so difficult and expensive to reach. Now, with private submersibles descending to around a thousand feet, you might be “the first human ever to see a particular patch of seabed,” Moore says.

私人潜水器可以自由航行，通常可容纳一名驾驶员和六名游客，配备了探头和精密的相机，让游客可以拍照和录像。

Personal submersibles are free-roaming vehicles that hold a pilot and six guests. They’re outfitted with probes and sophisticated cameras, allowing guests to take photos and video.

 

 

不过，牛津大学的海洋生物学家指出，这样的（配有私人潜水器的）游轮探险每人的价格为数万美元，只有极少数人可以参加，不是谁都能负担得起。

Such cruise expeditions are priced at tens of thousands of dollars a person, making them available to a very small group of individuals, says Paris Stefanoudis, a marine biologist at the University of Oxford. He says, “You have to face that fact: Not everyone can use [or afford] them.”
 

综合来源：国家地理、Live Science网，央视网，Polar Research