species tagged posts

Almost five years of studying the deep Atlantic in unprecedented detail has revealed 12 species new to science. The sea mosses, molluscs and corals had eluded discovery because the sea floor is so unexplored, scientists say. Researchers warn that the newly discovered animals could already be under threat from climate change. 

Carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean is making it more acidic, causing coral skeletons in particular to corrode.

The scientists involved stressed it was “not too late to protect these special species” and the important habitats they occupied. 

Some key Atlantic discoveries from the mission:

• New species: “At least” 12 new deep-sea species. The team also found approximately 35 new records of species in areas where they were previously unknown
• Climate chang...

Looking for fish under pressure. Two marine biologists say they’ve set a record for the deepest underwater survey performed by human divers, at 136 metres down, off the coast of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia.

“We are seeing a lot of species previously unknown to science,” says Luiz Rocha at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

He and Hudson Pinheiro at the University of Santa Cruz have been looking for new fish species at these little-explored depths. The previous record for the deepest human survey, also set by Rocha’s team, was 130 meters. Many of the species they have seen are found only in these deep reef habitats.

The discoveries have their risks...