Ocean Census Announces Record Discovery of 1,121 New Marine Species

The Ocean Census, a joint effort of the Nippon Foundation and the UK nonprofit Nekton, reported the identification of 1,121 previously unknown marine species during the past year, based on 13 deep-sea expeditions.

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The three-year-old project uses high-tech submersibles and partners with JAMSTEC, CSIRO and the Schmidt Ocean Institute, drawing taxonomic expertise from over 85 countries.

Scientists discover over 1,100 new marine species

• *Dalhousiella yabukii*, a polychaete worm living inside a silica-based glass sponge off Japan.

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• A new chimaera (“ghost shark”) from Australia’s Coral Sea Marine Park, a deep-sea fish with a cartilage skeleton.

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• A brightly colored ribbon worm in Timor-Leste that produces defensive toxins.

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• 1,121 species represent a 54 % increase over the previous annual count.

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• 13 expeditions covered remote regions from the South Atlantic to the Coral Sea.

Marine scientists discover record number of new species

• Approximately 90 % of ocean species remain undescribed; the average lag between discovery and formal description is about 13.5 years.

Marine scientists discover record number of new species

The findings expose a major gap in marine biodiversity knowledge and illustrate the risk that species may become extinct before formal recognition. Formal description provides the passport needed for legal protection.

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Oliver Steeds, director of the Ocean Census, said discovery is the first step toward description and that accelerating the pipeline is essential for science and policy. Michelle Taylor warned that climate change, pollution and deep-sea mining threaten many of the newly found organisms. Tammy Horton noted that without formal naming, species cannot be protected under existing regulations.

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Marine taxonomists caution that many announced species may already be known. Greg Rouse of Scripps Institution of Oceanography highlighted the 13-year average lag between discovery and description. Karen Osborn of the Smithsonian argued that discovery alone does not confer scientific status without rigorous validation.

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The Census records any validated “discovery” as new, yet taxonomists note that a substantial portion of the 1,121 may correspond to previously described specimens, leaving the exact novelty rate undetermined.

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• “This is really a planetary blindspot,” — Oliver Steeds, Director, Ocean Census

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• “Discovering the majority of life on our own planet – in our own ocean – costs a fraction of that.” — Oliver Steeds, Director, Ocean Census

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• “Without this the formally recognized name the species effectively does not exist for science, and therefore also for policy – unnamed species cannot be protected.” — Tammy Horton, Research Scientist, UK National Oceanography Centre

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• “I don’t feel like saying, ‘Oh, look, we discovered something new’ should be given the status of something being described — until you’ve actually done the work to show that it’s something unique,” — Karen Osborn, Taxonomist, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

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The Census will log “discovered” specimens in an open-access database to make them instantly visible to scientists and policymakers, and it seeks additional funding to speed formal description and expand future expeditions.

Marine scientists discover record number of new species