Global Survey of Marine Life Identifies Thousands of New Species

A decade-long survey of the world’s oceans has revealed more than 6,000 previously unknown species and says a total of 250,000 marine species have now been identified. But the census, conducted by 2,700 scientists who participated in 540 expeditions, predicts that the world’s oceans may contain another 750,000 species that have yet to be identified. The $650 million project has discovered a range of species living in the world’s remotest waters, particularly in the frigid Southern Ocean around Antarctica and in unexplored regions of the deep seas. On the ocean floor, researchers found huge communities of species living near the openings of thermal vents and along rifts that seep nutrients into the oceans, including a furry crab off Easter Island in the South Pacific that is part of a family that had been unknown to scientists and a so-called “squidworm” found in the deep waters of the Celebes Sea in Southeast Asia. The report warns that despite such diversity, the effects of pollution and over-fishing threaten many species.