An international Species Discovery Workshop, led by the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census in partnership with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, has resulted in the identification of 57 new marine species and 5 genera,
An international Species Discovery Workshop, led by the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census in partnership with the Schmidt Ocean Institute, has resulted in the identification of 57 new marine species and 5 genera, shedding new light on one of the most biologically dynamic regions in the South Atlantic Ocean.
The workshop brought together 20 taxonomists and early-career researchers from across Latin America and Europe to examine deep-sea biological samples, primarily from the Schmidt Ocean Institute Underwater Oasis of the Mar del Plata Canyon expedition in August 2025 onboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor (too), using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian. Hosted at the Universidad Maimónides in Buenos Aires July 13-24, 2026, the team utilized integrated taxonomy techniques to rapidly identify specimens, logging discoveries directly onto Ocean Census NOVA, the world’s first open-access data platform for newly discovered marine species.
Among the key findings was “Loki the Sea Cucumber” (Peniagone sp.), a striking deep-sea echinoderm named for its horned appendages, resembling the god of Norse legend. In total, the team identified 20 new species of copepods, 22 echinoderms (sea cucumbers and crinoids), 14 cnidarians (octocorals, sea pens, and stony corals), and 1 scaphopod mollusc, with 5 new scientific genera spanning corals,
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