Two NYC Students Discover a New Species of Sea Anenomes

Cherie Qu of Bayside and Sadie Burke of Staten Island were featured as co-authors on a study published this week in American Museum Novitiates that detailed their work in discovering two new species of deep-sea anemones. Cherie, a high school senior, and Sadie, a Reed College freshman, worked alongside Drs. Luciana C. Gusmão and Estefania Rodriguez from the American Museum of Natural History. They conducted research last year as part of the Science Research Mentoring Program at the Museum of Natural History, which gives students the opportunity to be mentored by the museum’s scientists.

Scolanthus shrimp and Scolanthus celticus are previously undescribed species of burrowing anemones that live in the Whittard Canyon, a deep-see valley of the coast of Ireland. Sclanthus shrimp is named after the SRMP, where participating students are known as “srmpers.” Scolanthus celticus is named after the Celtic Explorer, the research vessel that collected anemone specimens in ocean depths of more than 3,000 feet. Dr. Gusmão, Cherie, and Sadie analyzed the morphology and genetics of each organism they collected to determine the two species had not been recognized before.