“Shark de guitar” and snail with poisonous “harpoons” among 866 new marine species discovered in the ocean Blogging Sole

More than 800 marine species have been newly discovered after two years of collaboration efforts by scientists, governments, museums and others participating in the census of the ocean, a global alliance founded to accelerate the discovery of marine life.

New species of shark, sea butterfly, mud dragon, bamboo coral, water bear, octocral and shrimp were only some of the results that were recorded in a repertoire after collaboration 10 world expeditions and welcomed eight species discovery workshops.

“The last two years have been transformators for the ocean census: we have launched new methods, forged key partnerships, established a global network of participating scientists and overcome the obstacles of a truly global mission,” said Oliver Steeds, Director of Ocean Census, in a declaration.

While the oceans cover most of our planet, little has been done to protect its biodiversity, manage the conservation of ocean life and establish marine areas protected on the high seas. Members of the United Nations agreed on a unified treaty
in 2023 to protect biodiversity on the high seas. More than 100 nations
Including the United States, has agreed to protect 30% of the world oceans by 2030.

“The ocean covers 71% of our planet, but it is said that only about 10% of marine life has been discovered so far,” said Dr. Michelle Taylor, principal researcher of the ocean census, said.

The alliance was founded by the Japanese Foundation and Nekton in April 2023; About 400 institutions participate in its activities, and 93 scientists have been financed to participate in shipments and research projects in order to strengthen the identification and official recording of a new species, the census of the ocean said on its website. The process can take up to 13.5 years, some species may disappear before being documented.

DAVE EBERT DU PACIFIC SHARK Research Institute Said in a video that knowing that we have another new species, “we can develop conservation methods for this – if it needs it.”

The recent wave of expeditions launched by the ocean census used divers, submersibles and robots on the high seas up to 5000 meters below sea level to discover new species. The species have been analyzed and confirmed in dozens of global laboratories.

Some of the discovered species include:

Guitar shark

Ebert, also known as “Lost Shark Guy”, identified the guitar shark 200m deep off Mozambique and Tanzania in Africa. This shark has 38 species known around the world and shares the characteristics of sharks and rays. The family of guitar sharks is among the 10 most threatened vertebrate groups and two thirds are threatened.

Gastropod of Turridrupa SP

Discovered 380 to 400m in the waters of New Caledonia and Vanuatu, in the South Pacific, this predator is one of the 100 gastropods of the newly identified Touride. These high seas snails inject toxins into their prey with precision with poisonous teeth in the shape of a harpon.

Sea Star: Tylaster sp.

Found at 2,770m at 3575 m in the Jøtul’s ventilation field from the Arctic, east of Greenland, this is the second species recorded for this genre, the first cited in the Norwegian Sea at 1100 m in 1881.