WTF Fun Fact 13207 – The Headless Chicken Monster

Have you heard of the headless chicken monster of the sea? Well, it’s slightly less exciting than it sounds, but we’re going to tell you about it anyway.

What is the headless chicken monster?

The headless chicken monster is actually a type of sea cucumber. And as you may have guessed, “headless chicken monster” isn’t its real name.

The sea cucumber was discovered in the Southern Ocean near East Antarctica in 2017 and made headlines in 2018. It is called the “headless chicken monster” because it has long, feathery appendages that resemble a chicken’s legs. Oh, and it doesn’t have a head. It uses appendages to move along the seafloor and filter feed on plankton. It has a mouth on the underside of its body.

The scientific name of this species is Enypniastes eximia.

Discovering a “monster”

The creature was seen using an underwater camera system. It’s thought to be the first sea cucumber of its kind to be observed in the Southern Ocean and has yet to be fully studied by scientists.

According to Smithsonian Magazine (cited below):

“While conducting a video survey of the deep, dark waters of the Southern Ocean, Australian researchers recently captured footage of a host of funky creatures that swim about near the sea floor. But the team was particularly surprised when a pink, blob-like animal fluttered into shot, propelled by a little pair of fins. It looked “a bit like a chicken just before you put it in the oven,” Dirk Welsford, the program leader for the Australian Antarctic Division, tells Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times. The researchers had no idea what it was.”

Interestingly, scientists seem to have known about the creature since the 19th century, it’s just rarely sighted. It wasn’t named its own species until the recent footage.

The future of E. eximia

The Southern Ocean is a remote and inhospitable environment, and scientists know very little about the sea creatures that live in this region. The discovery of E. eximia is important because it highlights the diversity of life in the Southern Ocean and the need for further research in this region.

Due to its remote habitat and deep waters where it lives, wildlife officials don’t consider the species endangered. CNN reported that the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) proposed creating three large protected areas along East Antarctica to study the unique marine life there. However, Russia and China have blocked the proposal.  WTF fun facts

Source: “A Rare Sighting of the ‘Headless Chicken Monster of the Sea” — Smithsonian Magazine