Scientists have uncovered 30 new underwater species, including a carnivorous sponge nicknamed a “death ball.” The Ocean Census project is an alliance between research fund the Nippon Foundation and marine research charity Nekton. It took around 2,000 samples and hours of video footage from the Southern Ocean, one of the most remote places on Earth. The Guardian reports they found a host of previously unknown species, including a “sea star, new crustaceans including isopods and amphipods, and rare gastropods and bivalves.” The samples were verified at the Southern Ocean Species Discovery Workshop at Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile. More possible new species are also being assessed. The “death sponge” is covered in tiny hooks used to catch its prey, a far cry from most sponges, which are passive filter feeders. The research sent probes to places almost entirely untouched by humans, including the South Sandwich Trench and the craters of underwater volcanoes. Dr Michelle Taylor, head of science at the alliance, said, “The Southern Ocean remains profoundly undersampled. To date, we have only assessed under 30% of the samples collected from this expedition, so confirming 30 new species already shows how much biodiversity is still undocumented.”
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