Film of undiscovered deep sea creatures released after Puerto Rico ocean floor expedition

More than 100 species of fish, 50 deep-water corals and hundreds of invertebrates were filmed during the expedition

    

A team of scientists mapping the ocean floor off the coast of Puerto Rico have ccaptured some amazing images of deep sea creatures, some of which have never been seen before.

Scientists from the US government-backed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration used a remotely operated vehicle across 12 dives to explore the ocean floor to depths up to 20,000ft and then stream their discoveries online.

In the video taken from these expeditions and posted online by the website Quartz, an assortment of weird and wonderful creatures such as a fluorescent jellyfish and bright pink starfish can be seen.

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In total, more than 100 species of fish, 50 deep-water corals and hundreds of invertebrates were filmed by the vehicle's camera.

Among these were several species that did not have names, including a new jellyfish-like creature and a never before seen species of fish.

The expedition was just the first leg in a 52-day exploration off the coast of Puerto Rico and it is hoped that there will be many more new discoveries on the second leg of the trip.

Andrea Quattrini, the joint leader of the expedition said: "It's pretty amazing that we haven't been there yet, exploring really deep depths."

She praised the decision to stream the footage online, saying that it added a new dimension to the research.

She said: "Scientists from all over the world can log into the chat room and we can discuss are observations as we go.

"There will be a starfish expert or a jellyfish expert or a coral expert and so they're all working with us together, which is very unique.

"On other research expeditions you only have a certain number of bunks on the ship and so only say 12 or 15 scientists can go at once."