Deep-sea sub finds ‘Chewbacca’-like creature in Pacific Ocean. See new species

Not all new species discoveries are met with pomp and circumstance. There isn’t a “Eureka!” moment or jumping of joy.

Sometimes, all it takes is for one researcher sitting at their computer editing scientific studies and emailing with researchers on the other side of the world when they notice images that look familiar.

This was the case for Les Watling, a professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii and University of Maine, and co-author of a study describing a new species of unique coral.

Watling met co-author Yu Xu while working as an editor for Zootaxa, the scientific journal where his work is now published, when Xu’s work crossed his desk.

“I noticed that Yu was describing species from the western Pacific and South China Sea that I recognized from things I had collected around Hawaii, or that the (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) ship Okeanos had collected in the central Pacific,” Watling told McClatchy News in an email. “So I sent him the details and that started our collaboration.”

Now, Iridogorgia chewbacca has been described for the first time, published Sept. 4 in the peer-reviewed journal.

“For I. chewbacca, I saw in the manuscript that he had sent me (now as collaborator) a specimen I recognized,” Watling said. “Actually, I had also seen a picture of this same thing in a Japanese book on the deep sea, so I knew it was in that part of the ocean.”

Watling first saw the coral species aboard a submersible in 2006, he said. The research team took photographs of the colony and collected a piece of it as a sample, but it wasn’t until 2016 when the Chinese team found more of the animal that it could be described as a new species.

Iridogorgia are a group of corals known for their long, spiraling structures and “brilliant iridescence,” according to the study, appearing almost like fireworks exploding from the seafloor.

The remote-operated vehicle “FaXian” collected a sample of the coral from a region near the Mariana Trench in 2016, while the sample found in 2006 was collected from waters near the Molokai Islands in the Hawaiian island chain, according to the study.

“When we first observed it from the submersible everyone agreed right away about what it looked like,” Watling said.

I. chewbacca is “large with whip-like branches” from the top of the colony down to the bottom, according to the study. The central axis is tightly coiled and has a “strong iridescent metallic luster.”

The Hawaiian specimen was about 4 feet tall, while an incomplete measurement of the coral found near the Mariana Trench was about 20 inches long, according to Watling and the study.

The branches of the coral are “very flexible,” according to the study, and can reach up to 15 inches long.

Watling said it was “stooped over a bit with long ‘hairy’ bits (actually the unusually flexible branches for this genus), and standing there all alone,” appearing like the famed wookie from the Star Wars franchise, Chewbacca.

“The last is an interesting feature of this species. We never see more than one at a time. And they do occur from Hawaii to the western Pacific,” Watling said. So far, this wide ranging distribution has stumped researchers.

The coral was seen growing out of the rocky bottom of the sea from a depth of about 2,200 feet, but near the region known as the deepest reaches of the ocean, the Mariana Trench.

Despite being on its own, the colony was described as “large and lush,” according to the study.

Coral, while described as a single specimen, is actually made up of sometimes thousands of tiny individual polyps that group together to form a single animal, according to NOAA.

Each individual polyp is equipped with a mouth that is surrounded by tentacles that can protect itself or pull prey into their mouths, NOAA says. These polyp groups are called colonies.

When researchers found I. chewbacca in 2006, “only the top (4 inches) or so was collected by the hydraulic arm of the sub,” Watling said. “The rest is still there, although no one knows what happens to the remainder of the colony after some bit has been snipped off.”

The Mariana Trench is in the western Pacific. The Molokai Islands are in the center of the Hawaiian Islands chain, just east of O’ahu.

The research team includes Xu, Watling, Zifeng Zhan and Kuidong Xu.

This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Deep-sea sub finds ‘Chewbacca’-like creature in Pacific Ocean. See new species."

Irene Wright

McClatchy DC

Irene Wright is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter. She earned a B.A. in ecology and an M.A. in health and medical journalism from the University of Georgia and is now based in Atlanta. Irene previously worked as a business reporter at The Dallas Morning News.