A cluster of mysterious black eggs was brought up by a deep-sea exploration device, inside were embryos of strange creatures never recorded by science .
According to Science Alert, the cluster of strange creature eggs was discovered by an ROV - a remotely operated vehicle - operating below the abyss in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, at a depth of up to 6,200m.
Marine researcher Yasunori Kano from the University of Tokyo (Japan) - who operates the ROV, described them as small and mysterious black spheres.
Strange creature eggs discovered at a depth of 6,200m in the Pacific Ocean - (Photo: TOKYO UNIVERSITY)
They were curious and decided to take some of the black spheres out. When they left the water, most of them were attached to rocks, torn and empty. Only four remained intact, and were sent to invertebrate biologists Keiichi Kakui and Aoi Tsuyuki of Hokkaido University (Japan).
Examination revealed that they were small leathery cocoons, about 3 mm wide, each containing 3-7 developing flatworms. When the eggshells were opened, a milky white liquid - possibly egg yolk - flowed out along with the embryonic flatworms.
Taking DNA samples from the worm embryos, they found that they belonged to species previously unknown in the world , but were closely genetically related to two subspecies that exist in shallower waters.
All known flatworms are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female gametes. Species that live in shallow water still reproduce sexually by laying eggs in leathery cocoons that attach to substrates such as rocks.
However, until now scientists knew almost nothing about free-living deep-sea worms, let alone how they reproduce. The deepest ocean flatworm ever confirmed was found at a depth of 3,232m.
At 6,200m deep, whatever it is, it's a surprisingly extreme form of life , offering unprecedented insight into how life might exist on Earth - and possibly on alien worlds.
It is possible that species from shallower waters gradually colonized the deep sea, but it is unclear why they evolved that way.
Research on these mysterious eggs has just been published in the scientific journal Biology Letters.
