Deep-sea creature with ‘strikingly’ prickly head is a new species off California
Off the coast of Monterey Bay, California, researchers encountered several unusual creatures in the deep, cold water.
Scientists now have confirmed these three specimens — two black and one pink and “bumpy” — belong to three new species of snailfish, according to a study published Aug. 27 in the journal Ichthyology and Herpetology.
All three species belong to the Liparidae family, known to inhabit a wide range of cold ocean habitats, from shallow intertidal zones to the deepest ocean trenches 4 miles below the surface, researchers said.
These scaleless fish use a “specialized ventral suction disk to cling to rocks, forming a curled, snail-like posture,” earning them their name.
The bumpy snailfish
Careproctus colliculi, or the bumpy snailfish, was discovered in Monterey Canyon in March 2019, about 63 miles off the coast, at a depth of just over 2 miles, according to the study.
A single pregnant female measuring about 3.5 inches long was collected using a remotely operated vehicle.
The bumpy snailfish was described as having a “round” and “strikingly textured” head covered in “prickles,” large eyes, “sharp, long and prominent” teeth, large, protruding tube-shaped nostrils, and pink “bumpy” flesh, according to the study.
The dark and sleek snailfish
Careproctus yanceyi and Paraliparis em, also known as the dark snailfish and the sleek snailfish, respectively, were collected by a crewed submersible in May 2019, according to the study.
The dark snailfish measured 7.7 inches long and is distinguished from other related species by its “completely black” body and “rounded head,” according to the study.
It has a “deep” blunt snout and “densely packed” bumps that cover its entire body, researchers said.
The single specimen found, a female carrying “many eggs,” was discovered at a depth of about 2.5 miles below the surface, the study said.
In the same submersible dive, the crew discovered Paraliparis em, or the sleek snailfish. This new species is distinguished from other snailfish “by its long, black, laterally compressed body, absence of a suction disk” and “prominently angled jaw,” researchers said.
Other distinct features include sharp, “conical” teeth angled in toward its mouth and “very smooth” skin, according to the study.
“These three newly discovered species begin to fill an important sampling gap for the family Liparidae and demonstrate the importance of snailfishes in communities of the abyssal seafloor,” researchers said.
The research team included Mackenzie E. Gerringer, Sarah Suplicz, Jessica L. Palmeri, Lydia Fregosi, Brett H. Woodworth, Emily McMahon, Samantha Shepard, Logan M. Peoples and Jeffrey C. Drazen.
This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Deep-sea creature with ‘strikingly’ prickly head is a new species off California."
