| The creature, as viewed from the submarine moving about the ocean depths between Iceland and the Azores, was like nothing the marine biologists had seen before. It had a purple, lotus flower-shaped head perched atop a sinuous green stalk of a body measuring several centimetres long. Months later, the scientists are still not entirely sure if the animal was a fish. "It was a type of animal that didn't match the characteristics of any we know of," said Michael Vecchione, a deep-sea expert and part of the expedition. < -snip- > Sadly, the specimen discovered by Mr Vecchione's crew disintegrated when it came to the surface. However, as the submersible bumped along the craggy ocean floor plumbing depths almost three miles below the Atlantic surface, the scientists encountered other unknown species. They included a 30cm-long (1ft), webbed octopus that looked a little like a cartoon ghost, and a "lizard" skittering along the ocean floor.
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