Rimicaris hybisae was found 5,000m beneath the Caribbean sea
A new species of shrimp has been discovered living deeper than any seen before in the world's most extreme deep sea volcanic vents.
British scientists made the discovery while on an expedition to explore boiling undersea springs - which may be hotter than 450C - on the Caribbean seafloor.
Some 5,000 metres down, in a rift in the seafloor, exists a volcanic spring known as a 'black smoker', which fires a jet of mineral-laden water more than a kilometre into the ocean above
But despite the extreme conditions, the vents are teeming with thousands of a new species of shrimp that has a light-sensing organ on its back.
The pale shrimp congregate in hordes - up to 2,000 shrimp per square metre - around the six-metre tall mineral spires of the vents.
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