Wednesday March 12, 2025
CNN —
A guitar-shaped shark, a fan-like coral and a venomous deep-sea snail equipped with harpoon-like teeth are among 866 previously unknown species discovered as part of an ambitious effort to document marine life.
Found by divers, piloted submersibles and remotely operated vehicles during 10 ocean expeditions, the species have all been deemed new to science, according to Ocean Census, a global alliance to protect sea life, which this week released the first major update since its launch in 2023.
The 10-year project aims to plug the huge gaps that exist in scientists’ knowledge of the ocean depths. Michelle Taylor, a coral expert at the University of Essex and a principal investigator at Ocean Census, said the scope for discovery is immense.
“Probably only 10% of marine species have been discovered,” Taylor told CNN from onboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Falkor (too) research vessel while on a 35-day expedition to the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean.