It's a phantom that's haunted the subsurface waters of the frozen Arctic for untold millennia in secret — until now. University of Manitoba researcher Aurelie Delaforge accidentally discovered a new form of Monstrillopsis zooplankton in the cold aquatic environment of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, in 2014. Algae and other phytoplankton — small aquatic plants — are vitally important to aquatic communities, because they form the base of the food web in the ocean. Delaforge previously studied phytoplankton and zooplankton (small aquatic animals) — and the way environmental changes impact those communities — during her master's research in France. University of Manitoba PhD student Aurelie Delaforge discovered this Monstrilloida zooplankton, a new copepod, in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

Source: CBC News October 19, 2017 18:00 UTC