OXFORD, United Kingdom, Oct. 12 (World Daily Times) — Researchers identified 57 marine species and five proposed genera new to science during a two-week examination of deep-sea samples from Argentina’s submarine canyons, Ocean Census and the Schmidt Ocean Institute announced.
The result is a discovery tally from a Species Discovery Workshop, where specialists examined collected marine life. It covers several groups of animals, from crustaceans to corals, rather than a single species or a measure of how much marine populations have changed.
The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census led the workshop in partnership with the Schmidt Ocean Institute. According to the organizers, 20 taxonomists and early-career researchers from Latin America and Europe met at Universidad Maimónides in Buenos Aires from July 13 to 24, 2026.
What kinds of animals were identified?
The organizers divided the 57 species into four groups: 20 copepods, 22 echinoderms, 14 cnidarians and one scaphopod mollusc.
These scientific group names cover quite different animals. Copepods are crustaceans. The echinoderms identified included sea cucumbers and crinoids. The cnidarians included octocorals, sea pens and stony corals. Scaphopods are a group of molluscs.
A genus is a classification used to group closely related species. The five proposed new genera span corals, sea cucumbers and crustaceans, the organizers said. Those genera are a separate classification result, not five additional species to add to the total of 57.
“New to science” concerns scientific recognition and classification. It does not mean that the animals recently appeared in the ocean.
Where did the samples come from?
The samples came primarily from the Underwater Oases of the Mar del Plata Canyon expedition off Argentina in the South Atlantic, according to Ocean Census and the Schmidt Ocean Institute. The institute operated the expedition aboard its research vessel Falkor (too), using the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian.
Ocean Census dates that expedition to July 23–August 10, 2025. Collecting the animals at sea and identifying them at the July 2026 workshop were separate stages of the work.
The workshop also brought together material from earlier research. Ocean Census said marine life collected during the Talud Continental I–III expeditions in 2012–2013 would be examined. Those expeditions were led by CONICET, Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council.
How did researchers distinguish the species?
Taxonomy is the work of identifying, describing and classifying organisms. The organizers said the workshop used integrated taxonomy, an approach that combines different kinds of evidence to distinguish species.
Tech Times reported that researchers carried out morphological examination, high-resolution imaging and targeted DNA barcoding in parallel. Morphological examination compares physical features; imaging records those features in detail; DNA barcoding uses selected genetic sequences to help distinguish organisms.
The organizers said discoveries were logged on Ocean Census NOVA, which they describe as an open-access platform for newly discovered marine species.
Why bring specialists together?
Different animal groups require different expertise. Ocean Census described the workshop as a way to speed up discovery, share taxonomic knowledge and create research opportunities for early-career scientists.
Among the specialists Ocean Census identified were Daniel Lauretta, a Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales–CONICET researcher, and Ralf Cordeiro, a Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco researcher. Both focus on cnidarians and octocorals.
Pablo López-González, a Universidad de Sevilla researcher, brought expertise in cnidarians and sea pens. Marcelo Kitahara, a University of São Paulo researcher, focused on cnidarians and stony corals.
The echinoderm specialists included Francisco Solís-Marín, a Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México researcher focused on sea cucumbers, and Leonardo Chacón, a UC-EAP Instituto Monteverde researcher focused on crinoids.
Leonardo Santos de Souza, a Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul researcher, specializes in scaphopod molluscs. Nancy Mercado Salas, a Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change researcher, focuses on copepods.
Seven Seas Media reported that CONICET identified Martín Brogger and Valeria Teso as the workshop’s local coordinators.
“Discovering 57 new species and five new genera in just two weeks demonstrates the speed and power of collaborative taxonomy,” Michelle Taylor, Ocean Census head of science, said in a statement quoted by People.
What work remains in the collections?
Tech Times reported that all 20 copepods examined from a single harpacticoid collection were considered new species. The outlet also reported that the collection represented 10% of returned samples and that 90% of the copepod material remained unexamined.
