Sea pigs from the abyss host unusual bacteria

In the deep ocean, translucent sea pigs trundle across the seafloor. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have discovered an unusual bacterium beneath the sea pig's "skin." Through fluorescent imaging, they determined the location of the bacterium, which they named Candidatus Abyssoplasma scotoplanesicola. DNA analysis revealed a minimized genome of just 649,000 bases.