More than a century after it has been first spotted, the Bathochordaeus Charon has been found again. This creature was known to have been elusive to scientists since it was first described, which has caused some people to be skeptic about the real existence of the strange creature which was named after a mythical "ferryman of the dead" who allegedly transports the souls of the dead.
Sea Blob: A Myth No More?
According to reports made by Daily Mail, it was during their regular routine of diving where scientists have allegedly spotted an 'exceptionally large' larvacean off the coast of California, and further analysis has now confirmed it to be the first definitive record of the mysterious deep-sea blob. It was found that as the vehicle ascended through the water, senior research technician Rob Sherlock noticed a particularly large larvacean come into view.
Furthermore, in one of his statements revealed by Science Alert, Rob Sherlock from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) said that they did not have any idea until they looked more closely at the specimen, that they had actually found B. charon, the species first described over a hundred years ago. It was found that the first identification occurred in 1900 by a scientist on the 1898-99 Valdivia expedition, who collected two large specimens from the South Atlantic and named the new species B. Charon for the ferryman of the river Styx in Greek mythology.
In the years that followed, researchers had reportedly found a similar creature, but experts have highly emphasized that it's none quite like the Valdivia specimens. Ultimately, Sherlock has even claimed that in a lot of ways, we know more about the moon than we do about life in the ocean. Additionally, the research has allegedly been published in Marine Biodiversity Records.
