This Deep-Sea Creature Lays Its Eggs on Hydrothermal Vents--A First

The world's most patient mom may be a deep-sea octopus that tends her eggs for nearly 4.5 years. But now, there may be a new contender for her throne. Scientists have caught a rare glimpse of another deep-sea dweller that may also spend four or more years nursing its eggs, and it does it in an even more unusual place: on hydrothermal vents, where hot water spews from the ocean floor. It's called the Pacific white skate (Bathyraja spinosissima), a bone-white, bug-eyed relative of sharks that can live almost two miles (2,900 meters) underwater. Deep-sea skates, which are shark relatives that resemble rays, lay large eggs that can take years to hatch in cold water.