This is the cosmopolitan Loricifera, a microscopic sea worm (<1mm) that can be found attached between marine gravel, from shallow to deep water, almost everywhere on earth. These multi-celled creatures are tiny but armored, with a complex body and developed brain. They are also nature’s masters on extreme miniaturization and extreme survival (source).
In 2010 researchers found three new species of anaerobe Loriciferans under the Mediterranean Sea, living and reproducing entirely without oxygen nor sunlight (source). The implications of this discovery might also reach far beyond our planet, as for some exobiology researchers this indicates that other planets, with oceans or persistent water pockets, could also harbor larger forms of life.
Read more on phys + oxford journals
Illustration from the new book Animal Earth: The Amazing Diversity of Living Creatures by zoologist Ross Piper.
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