Ocean Census

Our paper describing a new species of Pascua goby from the Coral Sea has been selected as en Editors Choice Article in Fishes. Apart from being fabulous, these fish are cool because they show that the genus has two groups of species separated by >5000km of the Pacific! www.mdpi.com/3483974 #fishes

Ever heard of gnathiids? 🤔 They're a type of isopod crustacean. The juveniles are parasitic and feed on fish (yum!). The adults are free living and can be found in a range of ocean habitats. That's Anja's speciality and she's been looking for brand new species at our recent workshop in South Africa.

Who needs lights when you are your own disco ball?
Eunice sp., a polychaete worm peeks out from a glass sponge at 1,000m, the rest of its iridescent body coiled inside. Observed on the #Shinkai6500 expedition with #JAMSTEC in 2025.

Expedition: oceancensus.org/expeditions/...

#SundaySpecies

Early-Career Taxonomists at the Isopod Species Discovery Workshop This workshop, a collaboration between Ocean Census and Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, is co-developed and organised by Saskia Brix and her isopod team.

“And, totally objectively speaking, they just look cool as hell.”

After seeing some of the species under the microscope in snowy Wilhelmshaven, we agree! Meet some of the team discovering brand new species of isopods.

🔍 oceancensus.org/small-creatu...

@oceanspecies.bsky.social @sgn.one

Meet Dr Toufiek Samaai 👋 For nearly 30 years, he’s been studying marine sponges.

His work has led to the discovery and description of an incredible 40+ new sponge species and several entirely new genera from South Africa and around the world.

Fantastic! We can't wait to see the results Chris. Best of luck to you and the team at NHM for the rest of the lab work.

Diego Vaz, Luke Tornabene and I caught up at the Natural History Museum to work on Eviota dwarf gobies last week. This was part of two Ocean Census species discovery awards. There are LOTS of gobies left to discover! @nhm-london.bsky.social @oceancensus.bsky.social #fishsky #fish #marinelife

“The Perfect Pair” Symbiotic Relationships of the Deep Blue - Ocean Census They say that two is better than one, and for some marine species, living as a pair means that they are able to survive, adapt, and thrive in complex and often challenging underwater environments.

Symbiosis is a way of life for many marine animals - from mutualism, where both partners benefit, to parasitism, where one benefits at the other’s expense. Some pairs are perfectly matched, others… less so. Learn more: oceancensus.org/the-perfect-...

Just wrapped up: a species discovery workshop in South Africa. The international team of taxonomists studied specimens from Nekton's First Descent Comoros expedition. Potential new sponges, corals, cephalopods, tunicates, polychaetes & isopods were studied.

More: oceancensus.org/supporting-c...

New publication 🦈
Congrats to Dr Dave Ebert (Ocean Census Science Network) and authors. The study clarifies 14 distinct genetic units of guitarfishes (Acroteriobatus), resolving species boundaries and revealing restricted distributions under high fishing pressure.
👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

asian man in purple shirt wearing glasses standing amidst specimens on lab bench around him

LAST DAY for the Sea Star #CoralSeaFrontiers workshop-Over 211 specimens, about 60 different species, maybe 20% of those? were undescribed! (but I did just publish a new paper on New Caledonia!) my thanks to @oceancensus.bsky.social @drtimohara.bsky.social for supporting this visit and ID workshop!

Surface of a sea star composed of many plates, covered by short, sharp spines on the radial areas.

image from a sub of this sea star species with arms extneding upwards into water

Calliderma emma has been observed by subs around Hawaii-but a key character is the many, MANY sharp spines present along the radial regions! Protection perhaps for its papulae? Now seen from the Coral Sea! #coralseafrontiers thank you @oceancensus.bsky.social @drtimohara.bsky.social

2/2 We are studying samples from Nekton's #FirstDescentComoros Mission. Samples will be held in Comoros and South Africa, providing opportunities to lead to new species discoveries and descriptions. More information about the expedition here: oceancensus.org/expeditions/...

This week, a Species Discovery Workshop has begun in South Africa, hosted at the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity. The international team of scientists span expertise including polychaetes, corals, sponges and cephalopods. 1/2

ABSTRACTS of a deepsea sea star, an old friend called Perissogonaster from the Coral Sea #coralseafrontiers! showing off its gorgeous plates and ornaments! thank you @oceancensus.bsky.social @drtimohara.bsky.social

Another sea star species likely not seen since its description by Hubert L. Clark in 1916-Nymphaster pentagonus! -it has long spindle like arms with a broad flat bottom side. possibly to help spread out on soft bottoms! #coraseafrontiers thanks @oceancensus.bsky.social @drtimohara.bsky.social

Ok this find from the #CoralSeaFrontiers workshop is pretty cool! Our (super)star specialist Chris Mah is on the case.

Meet your heroes 🚫
Bring your heroes on a 1000m submarine dive ☑️

Pedro Pascal (sort of) joined Science Manager superfan Belen for a 1000m dive in the Shinkai 6500 submersible last year. This was part of the #JAMSTEC expedition exploring deep sea troughs and seamount chains off Japan.

Spotlighting another super scientist from the Ocean Census Science Network

Meet Ernest 👋 who's currently leading an expedition along the coastline of Cameroon. Ernest was awarded an Ocean Census Expedition Award last year, providing funding to help support his expedition.

side of star with big spines on top and lower surface and lip like structures all along side.

big starfish with spines on top and around edge!

A familiar friend...but in TASMANIA! Hippasteria phrygiana! A near cosmopolitan species found in Atlantic, Pacific and Indian waters-generally predators on cnidarians-esp. octocorals-showing off prominent pedicellariae and big ass spines! thanks @drtimohara.bsky.social @oceancensus.bsky.social

Colleague Dr. Kate Naughton shares what *could* be a new species of green isocrinid stalked crinoid from the #CoralSeaFrontier expedition! Part of the @oceancensus.bsky.social workshop hosted by @drtimohara.bsky.social at Museum Victoria!

sea star with large pointy spines on disk and along lateral edge

A spiny friend called Calliaster spinosus! Most likely not seen since Hubert Lyman Clark described it in 1916! #coralseafrontiers thanks to @oceancensus.bsky.social @drtimohara.bsky.social

A new species of mud star being described from >1000 m collected during the #coralseafrontiers expedition, Note how the tube feet are pointed rather than suckered. This is a common feature of stars that live on muddy/sandy bottoms! via @oceancensus.bsky.social @drtimrideout.bsky.social

We talk about taxonomy a lot, it's true. But what is it, and why is this branch of biology so important?

Read more in our All About Taxonomy article here: oceancensus.org/understandin...

One of our favourite sea star scientists has arrived at the #CoralSeaFrontiers workshop. 🤩😎 We're looking forward to an exciting couple of months with CSIRO and our expert scientists, who'll be looking at specimens and identifying new species from recent expeditions to the Australian Coral Sea.

white sea cucumberr with many tentcles emerging from surface

many sea cucumber specimens in a jar.

underside of sea cucumber with little tube feet

NEW SEA PIG (deep-sea sea cucumbers) DISCOVERIES AWAIT! Via #coralseafrontiers- supported work at Museum Victoria by @oceancensus.bsky.social Melanie M. and @drtimohara.bsky.social key words: CRUNCHY SEA PIG??

Beautiful new footage from our friends and expedition partners @schmidtocean.bsky.social. Check out highlights of the marine life spotted on the #ArgentinianDeepSeeps expedition.

Sea squirts & squid!

ROV pilots filmed these salps and spectacular squid during the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition with @oceancensus.bsky.social in early 2025. Salps, also known as sea squirts, are ubiquitous throughout the Ocean, and abundant in the Southern Ocean.

Don't forget to nominate your favourites for the WoRMS Top Ten Marine Species of 2025!

Deadline = January 25th 2026

Info: marinespecies.org/news.php?p=s...

Nomination form: form.vliz.be/en/form/worm...

@oceancensus.bsky.social @unoceandecade.bsky.social @vliz.be @lifewatcheric.bsky.social

The next species discovery workshop is underway!