Emily is a health news writer based in London, United Kingdom. She holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Durham University and a master's degree in clinical and therapeutic neuroscience from Oxford University. She has worked in science communication, medical writing and as a local news reporter while undertaking journalism training.
Scientists have discovered a new species of rosy-colored deep-sea worm 30 miles off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
P. strickrotti has a segmented, elongated body which is around 4 inches long. Like other ragworms, it looks like a cross between a centipede and an earthworm. It also lives in marine environments, as many ragworms do, although P. strickrotti lives in deep sea rather than shallower waters. So far, the team have found around 450 species at the methane seeps in Costa Rica since 2009, 48 of which are newly-discovered species. Methane seeps are areas where bubbles of methane, a type of greenhouse gas, escape from rocks or sediment in the seafloor. They can host a diverse ecosystem of animals that feed on food produced by methane-consuming bacteria.