About Alicella gigantea
- Alicella gigantea is a giant amphipod crustacean that can grow up to 34 cm in length, making it one of the largest deep-sea amphipods ever recorded.
- It was long considered extremely rare, with few sightings since its discovery. A major early sighting involved a 28 cm specimen at 5,304 m depth in the North Pacific, but it remained unidentified for years.
Taxonomy and Habitat
- Amphipods are shrimp-like crustaceans with over 10,000 known species, commonly found in a wide range of aquatic environments.
- gigantea thrives in deep-sea zones, including:
- Abyssal depths (3,000–6,000 m), and
- Hadal zones (>6,000 m)
- It was found at depths up to 6,746 m in areas such as the Murray Fracture Zone in the North Pacific.
Global Distribution and Dataset
- The new research compiled 195 records of gigantea from 75 locations across the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, covering 15 different seafloor features.
- This data establishes gigantea as a globally distributed species, not a localised rarity.
- The Pacific Ocean emerged as the species’ most significant habitat, with 75% of its seafloor area falling within the suitable depth range for the species.
