Even Before Its Discovery, Sea Creature Had Plastic In Its Gut, So It Has Been Named After It
A new species of amphipod was recently discovered in the Mariana Trench. It was named Eurythenes plasticus by the British researchers after the plastic found in its gut. The idea to name the species is to draw attention to the problem of plastic pollution.
Not every creature in the ocean or remote places of the earth has been discovered. Every new day brings some new piece of information or discovery of a new species or organism to scientists and the world.
However, there is one thing that has reached even those corners of the world that even humans have not - plastic. Plastic has been found at the deepest point in the ocean, apart from every other place. Keeping that in mind, when a new species of amphipod was recently discovered, it was named Eurythenes plasticus by the British researchers, after the plastic found in its gut.
Weston Et Al
This new species - small to medium-sized crustaceans found in aquatic environments worldwide - was described in an article published in the journal Zootaxa. This amphipod is approximately two inches in length. It is a shrimp-like animal that was caught at a depth of 20,000 feet in the Mariana Trench.
The Mariana Trench as many would know, is in the Pacific Ocean and is the deepest point on Earth's surface, reaching more than 36,000 feet (11.000 meters) deep.
Eurythenes Plasticus was named after pieces of polyethylene-terephthalate discovered in the animal's guts. ¡®Polyethylene-terephthalate,or PET, is a common plastic resin used in fibers for clothing, in packaging for food and bottles for liquids¡¯.
Oceanographic
The idea to name the species is to draw attention to the problem of plastic pollution and its harmful effect on the environment, according to the lead author of the paper, Alam Jamieson.
¡°We¡¯re just making a statement to say that we¡¯re now at the point where we are looking at a new species from an unexplored habitat and it¡¯s already contaminated with plastic,¡± Forbes quoted him as saying.
Oceanographic
Plastic pollution is a problem that has been suffocating and causing harm to the ocean life for years now and if no drastic measures are taken, many species will go extinct owing to it.
