Although it was discovered in 1939, very little is known about this deep-sea species. Like other bristle worms, it probably plays an important role in keeping the ocean healthy.

Caption A live male specimen of the new species of deep-sea worm, named Pectinereis strickrotti after the lead Alvin pilot, Bruce Strickrott of WHOI who helped discover it. Its feathery appendages ...

The disco caterpillar is actually a polychaete, a type of deep-sea worm known as a bristle worm, for obvious reasons. There are around 13,000 species of polychaete that live in marine ecosystems ...