Christmas tree or toilet brush? An underwater robot has discovered a strange creature at the junction of three tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean

Researchers from the Schmidt Institute of Oceanography have spotted a strange animal at the junction of three tectonic plates in the Pacific Ocean. It happened while they were using an underwater robot to clean the seabed.

The discovered creature is a polychaete, a class of marine worms better known as bristle worms. But visually, it looks very similar to a Christmas tree or a toilet brush, MailOnline writes.

"To describe this multi-bristle worm, you just have to use jazz hands - that's the only way to convey the dazzling brilliance of this deep-sea worm!" the experts noted.

The polychaete was spotted while pilots of an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) were exploring the outskirts of Chile.

"The international science team is exploring along the margin, a coastal deepwater area where a submerged continental shelf extends from the country's west coast and drops sharply and suddenly into the Pacific Ocean. It runs along the entire length of South America due to the subduction of the Pacific plate under the South American plate," explained a scientist from the Ocean Institute.

According to the researchers, the confluence of tectonic forces and terrestrial influences makes this vicinity a natural laboratory for studying the chemosynthetic and deep-sea environments that host animals such as this shimmering deep-sea worm.

A video posted on Instagram by the Schmidt Ocean Institute shows the animal crawling along the seafloor, its iridescent bristles shimmering in the light.

"Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia covered with bristles called chelae," the scientists describe the creature.

Some worms are bioluminescent, but this cheeky lightning bug has protein structures in its bristles that make them iridescent.

Polychaetes play a vital role in our oceans, from heat-resistant extremophiles near hydrothermal vents to Osedax worms that feed on bones and carry out nutrient cycling.

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