Detecting animals without oxygen

Animals that are able to grow and reproduce without using oxygen are existing on the bottom of the Mediterranean.

Newly discovered animals have a body length of several millimeters.They have a hard shell that protects the body.Photo: BBC.

The BBC said that scientists from the Marche Polytechnic University, Italy, found three species of Loricifera . Their body length is only a few millimeters, and their appearance is quite similar to jellyfish, but it has a protective shell. Three species are named Spinoloricus Cinzia , Rugiloricus and Pliciloricus . Among them are two species that lay eggs.

According to Professor Roberto Danovaro, the lead researcher, he and his colleagues found oxygen-free animals during the exploration of the L'Atalante continental shelf in the Mediterranean Sea. The continental shelf has a depth of about 3.5 km. The water here has very high salt content and absolutely no oxygen.

The team has not been able to conduct experiments to prove that the three new species are able to live without oxygen, but they have brought the two species' eggs into the ship. Eggs hatch successfully in a completely oxygen-free environment.

"The fact that these animals exist without oxygen is a secret. We have always thought that only bacteria can live like that," BBC quoted Danovaro.

Lisa Levin, an expert at Scripps Marine Institute in the United States, confirmed that before Marche Polytechnic's discovery, no one had found an animal capable of living and reproducing in a completely oxygen-free environment. She said that the existence of three new animals showed that it is possible that planets without oxygen still have life.