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Spiral Track on Ocean Floor

It took a while for scientists to identify what made this spiral track.
(Mike Vecchione/NOAA)

It took a while for scientists to identify what made this spiral track. At first they had only glimpses of the track-maker from fuzzy photographs. Finally, after studying a specimen and clearer images, scientists determined that the tracks were made by a new kind of wormlike animal from the group Enteropneusta. Click here to see these wormlike animals. More about deep ocean exploration can be found in our Deep Ocean Exploration featured story. Click here to learn more about Enteropneusta.