While exploring the waters off the coast of Chile, scientists from the Schmidt Ocean Institute discovered a vast underwater mountain that is home to more than 100 strange and exotic creatures.
Using an underwater robot, the team discovered an area 1,800 miles long with more than 200 seamount groups.
The submarine descended to a depth of 4,500 meters, mapped 20,377 square miles of seafloor, and found four new mountains with their own separate ecosystems, according to Live Science.
"We far exceeded our hopes on this expedition," said research team leader Dr. Javier Sellanes. "You always expect to find new species in these remote and poorly explored areas, but the amount we found, especially for some groups like sponges, is mind-blowing."
Unofficially dubbed "Solito" (lonely), the seamount's highest peak is 3,530 meters (12,560 feet) from the bottom, four times the height of Dubai's Burj Khalifa skyscraper, which stands at 828 meters (2,028 feet).
The underwater robot's footage revealed an array of creatures, including rare whiplash squid, magnificent unknown red fish species, spiral coral formations, elongated sea urchins, squat lobsters, sea spiders, web-like sponges, and spiny sea urchins.
"Full species identification can take many years, and Dr Sellanas and his team have an incredible number of samples from this amazingly beautiful and little-known biodiversity hotspot," said Schmidt Ocean Institute Executive Director Dr. Jyotika Virmani.
Dr. Javier Sellanes noted that the Schmidt Institute has partnered with the Nippon Foundation's Nekton Ocean Census Program, which has set a goal of finding 100,000 new marine species over the next 10 years.