New species of crustacean discovered in Puerto del Carmen

Canarian scientists have discovered a new species of crustacean in the black coral forests that lie off the shore of Playa Chica in Puerto del Carmen.

Wollastenothoe minuta is a tiny amphipod measuring around 1 millimetre in length which belongs to a genus that is previously unknown to science. Amphipods are small crustaceans that have no shells and soft bodies that are flattened lengthwise. The most well-known varieties are the sand hoppers that can often be seen in seaweed washed up on the tideline, but most varieties live at much greater depths.

This is the case with the new species discovered at Puerto del Carmen, which lives at a depth of 65 metres, and is found on the black coral forests that exist there. Investigator Sandra Navarro Mayoral, of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, used pioneering deep-diving techniques to reach the coral and take samples. Her team were surprised by the numbers of amphipods that they discovered on the coral, which they believe may suggest an ancient evolutionary relationship between the two species.

The discovery was part of the B-CHARMED project, which is an intensive study of Canarian black coral forests. Black coral is so named because its skeleton is usually black, but the corals themselves can be all sorts of colours, and in the case of the variety found off Playa Chica, a reddish shade is most common.

The tiny amphipod is not the first new species to be discovered off Playa Chica. Last year, diver Dennis Rabeling discovered a new species of sea slug, named Lomanotus tias, off the shore of the popular diving venue.