OXFORD, England, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- A new species of large squid with light-producing organs it uses to attract prey has been discovered in the Indian Ocean, a U.K. researcher says.
The almost 3-foot-long specimen, a member of the chiroteuthid family, was found during analysis of more than 7,000 biological samples gathered during a cruise organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Switzerland, the BBC reported Monday.
The six-month cruise was undertaken to unveil the mysteries of sea mounts -- undersea mountain ranges -- in the southern Indian Ocean.
"For 10 days now, 21 scientists armed with microscopes have been working through intimidating rows of jars containing fishes, squids, zooplankton and other interesting creatures," Alex Rogers of the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford says.
Clearly identifying a new species can take time, he says.
"Many specimens look similar to each other and we have to use elaborate morphological features such as muscle orientation and gut length to differentiate between them."
So far, more than 70 species of squid have been identified from the sea mounts cruise, representing more than 20 percent of global squid biodiversity, the BBC reported.
