Ocean Census

Head(less) for heights? 🌌

This headless chicken monster (Enypniastes eximia) was caught gliding above a bed of stars - brittle stars, that is - on the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition.

📸 @schmidtocean.bsky.social

In December, the first of three species discovery workshops in Chile took place at Universidad Católica del Norte. Scientists studied 160+ sea stars and 738 brittle stars from the SE Pacific, identifying 46 potential new species.

oceancensus.org/following-th...

Members of the Ocean Census Science Network: check your inboxes! 👀📬 The July edition of the Ocean Census newsletter has landed.

Find out more about opportunities through the Science Network: oceancensus.org/science-netw...

We're proud to be sponsoring the World Sponge Conference this year! Will we see you there? Let us know in the comments if you're coming 👇🧽

"I've often thought that if I were to have my career again, I would become a taxonomist."

Marine conservationist Prof Nick Dulvy reflects on the importance of taxonomy in protecting the ocean's top predators.

🎥 Watch Discovering the Ocean's Lost Sharks: youtu.be/xYuTXE2Ovmk?...

Ocean Census Marshall Islands Expedition | Participant Expedition The Ocean Census is joining the Ocean Exploration Trust on it's Marshall Islands Expedition to explore biodiverse deep-sea habitats.

Expedition underway! Ocean Census scientist Luisa Dueñas sets sail on @nautiluslive.org's latest mission to the Marshall Islands. This atoll-based nation is surrounded by over 2 million square kilometres of ocean, much of it never mapped or surveyed.

More: oceancensus.org/expeditions/...

More Than Just For Cleaning: The importance of Sponges through the Eyes of Báslavi Cóndor Luján and Her Students In this feature, we spoke with some of Báslavi Cóndor Luján's students to learn more about their work exploring sponges, one of the ocean’s most overlooked but ecologically vital organisms.

“Sponges are among the least studied organisms in Peru, along with many others that at first glance seem to have no significant importance to humans. As a result, the biodiversity of our country is highly undervalued”
— Hugo Vicente, sponge biologist

Read the article oceancensus.org/more-than-ju...

A fascinating new study published this week in @nature.com confirms that deep-sea ecosystems across the global ocean are remarkably connected. The paper uncovers evolutionary links among brittle stars that stretch across entire ocean basins!

Read the article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

At the end of the recent species discovery workshop in Chile, scientists were gifted with beautiful models of their marine specialism, handcrafted by the talented Soy de Lanita.

If you could have a crochet creature, what would it be?

What’s it like to dive thousands of metres in one of the world’s deepest-diving submersibles? 💭

To mark Marine Day (海の日, Umi no Hi), Japan’s national celebration of the ocean, we’re pleased to share a new film: To Dive Into Deep Waters.

🎥 Watch the film now: youtu.be/IOofD2yqvTA?...

This siphonophore, from the genus Bathyphysa, has a fantastic common name - the flying spaghetti monster! Filmed by @schmidtocean.bsky.social during an expedition in July last year, this encounter was a beautiful moment as the team were exploring the seamounts of the Nazca Ridge.

Of the 1,300 shark species known, 25% have been discovered in the last 20 years. With more than a third of sharks and rays at threat of extinction, the race is on to bring these lost sharks out of the shadows.

Watch the full film: youtu.be/xYuTXE2Ovmk

This coral (family Keratoisididae) was found at a depth of 959m during the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition with @schmidtocean.bsky.social, during exploration of a volcanic crater.

At the site the team found some of the shallowest hydrothermal vents in the area oceancensus.org/press-releas...

The Shichiyo seamounts, located off the coast of Japan, are a data-poor yet biologically significant region.

The #Shinkai6500 team reached a depth of 1059m, collecting biological samples for analysis at an upcoming Species Discovery Workshop. Among the specimens was a sea pen (Pennatulacea).

Today on #SharkAwarenessDay 🦈 we’re pleased to release a new film "Discovering Lost Sharks", with Dr Dave Ebert. The film spotlights the race to discover new shark species, that are at risk of being lost before they’ve even been found.

Full film here: youtu.be/xYuTXE2Ovmk?...

Meet Team Sponge 🪸🧽

It's a small but incredibly mighty team! At the current Chile Species Discovery Workshop, Dr Pilar Ríos and Dr Javier Cristobo are working through sponge specimens collected during recent expeditions in the Southeast Pacific. @ieo.es @csic.es

Thank you to scientists at the 2025 Crustacean Society Summer Meeting who attended Dr Verity Nye's presentation yesterday.

Verity and Maya remain at the conference this week to meet experts in the #crustacean scientific community and learn how we can collaborate to accelerate #speciesdiscovery.

This week, we are at the 2025 #Crustacean Summer Meeting conference in #Paris! 🦀 Science Manager Dr Verity Nye and Comms Officer Maya de Paz are excited to connect with crustacean experts from around the world. Come and say hi if you're there 👋

#thecrustaceansociety

Maritza is a sea pen specialist, now supporting our species discovery workshop in Chile. The specimens being studied were collected during last year’s #NazcaHighSeas expedition with @schmidtocean.bsky.social.

In this video from on board, she shares why exploring these seamounts is so important.

One of the specimens being studied at an Ocean Census species discovery workshop in Chile this week. Morphological analysis under microscopes and subsequent DNA analysis will help classify this species.

Unearthing Marine Worms | Updates from Dr. Laetitia Gunton at the International Workshop on Polychaetes - Ocean Census Laetitia Gunton attends the “International Taxonomic Workshop Dedicated to Polychaetes from the Aleutian Trench”.

Happy International #Polychaete Day to all those who celebrate! 🪱📷 Earlier this year we were pleased to interview Species Discovery Awardee Laetitia Gunton, about her work with these overlooked engineers of the ocean floor. oceancensus.org/unearthing-m...

Wishing Ocean Census Science Network member Kurt Bacharo all the best on the next D-ARK voyage - biodiversity research expeditions in deep-sea limestone caves off Japan. 🪸

Learn more about Kurt and his black coral expertise from the Philippine Sea expedition oceancensus.org/scientist-pr...

Ocean Species Discoveries | The Ocean Census The Ocean Census is accelerating ocean species discovery, revealing new life forms that have remained hidden beneath the waves.

[3] Find out more about Ocean Census discoveries, or register a new species here: oceancensus.org/discovery-sp...

[2] We're pleased to be hosted at Universidad Catolica del Norte for the next two weeks, to study some of the corals, octocorals and sponges collected. Morphological analysis and sequencing will help determine any new species discoveries. New species will be registered to the Ocean Census.

[1] This wonderful team have begun analysing specimens from the Salas y Gomez and Nazca Ridges in the SE Pacific. During these @schmidtocean.bsky.social-led expeditions, scientists visited unexplored seamounts and collected over 2,000 samples. 150 of which are potential new species for science.

What a delight to connect with you all at JAMSTEC! Thanks for taking the time to chat to us about meiofauna, James. 🙌 We're excited to find out more once the samples have been analysed.

The Hidden Majority - James Fleming on the wonderful world of meiofauna At a glance, marine sediment might seem lifeless, just mud beneath the waves. But for James Fleming, postdoctoral researcher at JAMSTEC, that mud holds entire worlds.

[2] What's so mighty about meiofauna?

Read all about their potential for species discovery, in this new article in collaboration with meiofauna expert James Fleming.

👉 Learn more: oceancensus.org/the-hidden-m...

@jamesfvfleming.bsky.social #JAMSTEC

What’s so mighty about meiofauna?

On the #Shinkai6500 expedition, JAMSTEC’s James Fleming is exploring the hidden world of meiofauna—where thousands, even tens of thousands, of new species may be waiting to be discovered.

@jamesfvfleming.bsky.social #JAMSTEC

The underside of a brittle star.
Photographed on the #Shinkai6500 expedition with
JAMSTEC, this closeup reveals the spiny arms and central mouth of a brittle star, forming the perfect star-shaped symmetry on the ocean floor.

oceancensus.org/expeditions/...

📷 Jack Hogan – Ocean Census / ©JAMSTEC

Two amphipods found at 2,500m in the Nankai Trough during the #Shinkai6500 expedition.

Amphipods play a vital role in recycling nutrients on the ocean floor. To date, over 10,700 amphipod species have been described, but many remain undiscovered, particularly in the deep sea.