The new species has a thick, gel-like coat and long bristles and was found hanging out close to Japan's Syowa Research Station on East Ongul Island. It has been identified as a species

of polychaete - a type of marine annelid worm - and was found nine metres (29.5ft) deep in the icy sea. International efforts are currently underway in the frozen wastes to build long-term

monitoring systems for land and coastal organisms from an ecological conservation standpoint. To this end the accumulation of continent-wide fauna information is essential but Japan is

lagging behind in gathering and analysing such data - particularly in regard to marine life. To address this problem, in 2015 a team of researchers, including Keiichi Kakui, a lecturer at

part of this process, they conducted microscopic analyses to examine two annelid worms scuba divers collected 8 to 9 metres deep in January 1981 at Nishinoura near Syowa Station. The worm

found 9 meters deep turned out to be a new, unnamed polychaete which they called Flabegraviera fujiae - after the icebreaker ship 'Fuji' used in the expedition 36 years ago. The

specimen collected eight metres (26.25ft) deep was recognised as Flabegraviera mundata - and was deemed to have been collected at the shallowest depth ever recorded for the Flabegraviera

genus. SWNS Scuba divers collected the worms at 8 to 9 metres deep Dr Keiichi Kakui, of Hokkaido University, said: "This study is a major step forward in understanding marine life in

the coastal region near Syowa Station. "The Flabegraviera genus is unique to the Antarctic and considered a good example for studying how polychaetes adapt to extreme

environments." Now it has become clear polychaetes inhabit depths reachable by scuba divers the researchers hope to conduct experiments using living specimens to gain a deeper

understanding of marine life in the area.