Slime Star Surprises Scientists near Kingman Reef
At 1800m deep our scientists encountered this slime star sitting on the pillow basalt substrate and it quickly became a control room favorite. Slime stars are a type of sea star and this specimen belongs to the Family Pterasteridae. In the video you can see the plump animal’s madreporite- a perforated plate that pumps water into slime star’s body and vascular system. E/V Nautilus captured this footage on a dive near Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge. Kingman Reef NWR includes 483,754 acres of one of the most pristine coral reef atoll ecosystems in the Pacific. Although no permanent land is found here small ephemeral coral spits provide habitat for roosting seabirds and basking turtles.
Learn more about this expedition funded by NOAA Ocean Exploration via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute.
Kingman Reef & Palmyra Atoll
The deep-water areas around Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll are within one of the largest marine protected areas in the world, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM). Despite a growing number of expeditions to explore deep-sea environments of the PRIMNM, including a 2019 Nautilus expedition, many areas remain unexplored.
