国家地理 南极深海的神秘生物

Scientists investigating the icy waters of Antarctic said on Tuesday they collected mysterious creatures including giant sea spiders and huge worms from the murky¹ depths. Australian experts taking part in an international program to take a census² of marine³ life in the southern ocean collected specimens⁴ from up to 6,500 feet beneath the surface. Some of the animals far under the sea grow to unusually large sizes, a phenomenon called "gigantism" that scientists still don't fully⁵ understand. Voyage leader Dr. Martin Riddle⁶ said during twenty days of actual sampling, they collected many samples of marine life, up to twenty-five percent of them previously⁷ unknown.

周二，研究南极冰冷海水的科学家们表示，他们从深海中收集了一些神秘的生物，包括巨大的海蜘蛛和巨大的蠕虫。澳大利亚专家参加了一项国际计划，对南大洋的海洋生物进行普查，他们从水下6500英尺的地方采集标本。海洋深处的一些动物长得异常大，这种现象被称为“巨大症”，科学家们至今仍未完全理解。航行负责人马丁·里德尔博士说，在20天的实际采样中，他们收集了许多海洋生物的样本，其中多达25%是以前不知道的。

We saw giant worms, giant crustaceans⁸, giant sea spiders, glass-like tunicates, enormously diverse areas in some places, in other places things scraped bare and barren by iceberg/ scour⁹. So huge diversity of life, very colorful, very rich, far exceeding any of our expectations.

我们在某些地方看到了巨大的蠕虫、巨大的甲壳类动物、巨大的海蜘蛛、像玻璃一样的被膜类动物，而在另一些地方，却被冰山刮得光秃秃的。生命多样性如此丰富、色彩琳琅、种类繁多，远远超出我们的期望。

Among the bizarre looking creatures the scientists spotted¹⁰, was a species of tunicates, plankton-eating animals that resemble slender glass structures up to three feet tall, other animals were equally baffling.

在科学家们发现的奇异生物中，有一种被囊类动物，这是一种以浮游生物为食的动物，类似于三英尺高的细长玻璃结构，其他动物也同样令人困惑。

They had, they had fins¹¹ in various places. They had funny dangly¹² bits around their mouths. They, most of all were working on the bottom, so they were all bottom dwellers¹³. So they were all evolved in different ways to live, to hang on the seabed in the dark, so many of them had very large eyes, so that what they are gonna use them for there where there's no life? I couldn't tell you. But yeah, they are very strange-looking fish.

这种动物长了很多鳍。嘴周围长着滑稽的尖牙。大多数都在底层工作，所以他们都是底层居民。动物进化出了不同的生活方式，他们在黑暗的海床上生存，所以很多都有大眼睛，那在没有生命的地方会用大眼睛做什么呢？我也说不出来。但是，是的，它们看起来很奇怪。

The specimens have been sent to universities and museums around the world for identification, tissue sampling and DNA¹⁴ studies. The expedition was part of an ambitious international effort to map life forms in the Antarctic Ocean, also known as the "Southern Ocean''. Scientists are studying the impact of climate change and monitoring how increased ocean acidification affects coral gardens. Increased acidification will make it harder for marine organisms to grow and sustain calcium¹⁵ carbonate skeletons. Scientists are planning a follow-up expedition in ten years to examine the effects of climate changes on the environment.

这些标本已被送往世界各地的大学和博物馆进行鉴定、组织取样和DNA研究。这次考察是一个宏大的国际合作项目，目的是绘制南极海洋(也被称为“南大洋”)上的生命形态。科学家们正在研究气候变化的影响，并监测海洋酸化对珊瑚花园的影响。酸化的增加将使海洋生物更难生长和维持碳酸钙骨架。科学家们计划在十年后进行一次后续考察，以研究气候变化对环境的影响。

1 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

2 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 crustaceans   

n.甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These crustaceans provide a valuable food source for some fish. 这些甲壳纲动物是某些鱼类重要的食物来源。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时，它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。 来自辞典例句

9 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

10 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

11 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句

12 dangly   

悬摆的，摆晃的

参考例句：

13 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

15 calcium   

n.钙(化学符号Ca)

参考例句：

• We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
• Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。