A ‘Golden Orb’ on the Ocean Floor Came From a Mysterious Animal

海底的“金色球体”来自一种神秘动物

Three years ago, during an expedition at the bottom of the Gulf of Alaska, a submarine detected a golden orb that contrasted with surrounding rocks. Its smooth, organic surface did not resemble that of any known animal; the team immediately retrieved it for study. Now, at last, we know what it was.

三年前，在阿拉斯加湾海底的一次探险中，一艘潜水器发现了一个与周围岩石形成鲜明对比的金色球体。它光滑的有机表面看起来不像任何已知的动物；研究团队立即将其打捞上来进行研究。现在，我们终于知道了它是什么。

A recent study, which is still awaiting peer review, rules out the extraterrestrial origin social media users suggested at the time. The researchers conclude that the mysterious orb is in fact the organic remains of Relicanthus daphneae, a giant and rare anemone that inhabits the deep sea.

一项尚待同行评审的最新研究排除了当时社交媒体用户所猜测的“外星起源”。研究人员得出结论，这个神秘的球体实际上是深海中一种罕见的巨型海葵——Relicanthus daphneae 的有机残留物。

This species can reach 30 centimeters in diameter and live between 1,600 and 4,000 meters deep. Its biology baffles specialists because it does not quite fit the rules that define anemones and corals. Since its discovery, scientists have struggled to classify it, and its evolutionary origin remains uncertain.

该物种直径可达 30 厘米，生活在 1600 至 4000 米深的海底。它的生物学特性令专家们感到困惑，因为它并不完全符合定义海葵和珊瑚的常规规律。自发现以来，科学家们一直难以对其进行分类，其进化起源至今仍不明确。

Before the study, there was nothing linking the golden orb to the giant anemone. The report details that an initial examination found spirocytes—ultra-specialized cells that only cnidarians (the group of animals made up of anemones, corals, and jellyfish) have. This finding ruled out the possibility that it was an egg or a biofilm, as initially thought.

在研究之前，没有任何证据将这个金色球体与这种巨型海葵联系起来。报告详细说明，初步检查发现了刺细胞（spirocytes）——这是一种只有刺胞动物（由海葵、珊瑚和水母组成的动物类群）才拥有的超特化细胞。这一发现排除了它最初被认为是卵或生物膜的可能性。

The team then sequenced the DNA of the material to search for matches in databases. The complete mitochondrial genomes showed a 99.9 percent match to Relicanthus daphneae. The evidence pointed to the orb being part of a rare and poorly documented anemone. However, the remains did not match any known structures of this species or other anemones.

随后，研究团队对该物质的 DNA 进行了测序，并在数据库中进行比对。完整的线粒体基因组显示其与 Relicanthus daphneae 的匹配度高达 99.9%。证据表明，该球体是一种罕见且记录匮乏的海葵的一部分。然而，这些残留物并不符合该物种或其他海葵的任何已知结构。

To solve the riddle, the researchers revisited a specimen collected years earlier and studied it again. They found fragments of a multi-laminated, golden cuticle the anemone had produced around its base. They then looked at live specimens and discovered that, as it moves along the bottom, R. daphneae leaves behind this cuticle, which remains on the rocks until it disintegrates or is buried.

为了解开这个谜团，研究人员重新审视了多年前采集的样本并进行了再次研究。他们发现了该海葵在其基部周围产生的多层金色角质层碎片。随后，他们观察了活体样本，发现 R. daphneae 在海底移动时会留下这种角质层，这些角质层会留在岩石上，直到分解或被掩埋。

Thus, the famous “alien object” in the Gulf of Alaska turned out to be the detached cuticle of a little-studied and deeply enigmatic animal. The finding made it possible to better characterize Relicanthus daphneae and explain why no specimen retained the golden coating: The anemone loses it as it moves, and sometimes that structure sinks and takes the form of a capsule that looks like something out of another world.

因此，阿拉斯加湾那个著名的“外星物体”原来是一种鲜为人知且极其神秘的动物脱落的角质层。这一发现使人们能够更好地描述 Relicanthus daphneae，并解释了为什么没有样本保留这种金色涂层：海葵在移动时会脱落它，有时该结构会下沉并形成一个看起来像是来自外星的胶囊状物体。

“These findings underscore the extent to which the biodiversity and organismal biology of obscure deep sea fauna broadly remain unresolved,” the report concludes. According to scientific estimates, more than 80 percent of the ocean remains unmapped, unobserved and unexplored directly.

报告总结道：“这些发现强调了深海中鲜为人知的动物群的生物多样性和生物学特性在很大程度上仍未得到解决。”据科学估计，超过 80% 的海洋仍未被测绘、观测和直接探索。