MBARI researchers first observed the 'mystery mollusc' (Bathydevius caudactylus) in February 2000 during a dive with the remotely operated vehicle Tiburon offshore of Monterey Bay at 2,614 meters (8,576 feet) deep.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by MBARI's own press release and peer-reviewed description paper (Robison & Haddock 2024, Deep Sea Research Part I), with consistent replication across multiple science news outlets and Wikipedia. Though many sources trace back to the same MBARI press materials, the primary peer-reviewed source and official institutional statement provide strong grounding. [cascade flags: aggregator_dropped_primary_exists,wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=0.838 clusters=4 claim_tier=notable | framework convergence=single on MBARI original discovery announcement and its associated peer-reviewed species description paper (upstreams: MBARI press release, Robison & Haddock 2024, Deep-Sea Research Part I) — publishers independent, evidence may not be | kind=empirical eligibility=high]
Sources
- Remarkable new swimming sea slug in the deep sea | ScienceDaily (seed:animals_and_wildlife)
- https://www.mbari.org/news/mbari-researchers-discover-remarkable-new-swimming-sea-slug-in-the-deep-sea/ (corroboration)
- https://divernet.com/scuba-news/marine-biology/deep-deceiver-weird-nudi-in-the-midnight-zone/ (corroboration)
- https://www.sci.news/biology/bathydevius-caudactylus-13421.html (corroboration)
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063724001845 (corroboration)