31 New Species Discovered in Two Weeks of Deep Sea Exploration 

Using state-of-the-art imaging systems, an international research expedition has confirmed the existence of a host of new deep-sea species off the coast of Brazil. These were found in what is known as the ‘mesopelagic zone’ – the part of the ocean that boasts by far the greatest biodiversity on the entire planet but which is the least explored ecosystem due to its inaccessibility and enormous volume.

_{Text: Marika Griehsel}

The team on board the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor II discovered over two dozen new marine species in just a few days. The scientists used advanced technologies to explore the Ocean’s midwater — the water between the sunlit layer and the seafloor — which is Earth’s largest and least explored habitable ecosystem. It can take scientists decades to identify and describe new species, but the combination of technology and expertise proved to be a game changer.

The team used a microscope developed at Stanford University to gain critical new insights into the physiology of midwater animals. The microscope, known as Squid, is an open-source, confocal microscope. Using Squid, the team achieved a first for research at sea and imaged living internal cellular structures in 3D.

´ The largest habitat on Earth, the midwater, is filled with incredible animals we are only just starting to understand,´ said the expedition’s chief scientist, Dr. Karen Osborn of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, in a press statment by the Schmidt Ocean Institute.

´ I continue to be fascinated by the fantastic variety of solutions they have evolved to survive in this formidable environment, and that drives me to keep asking questions about our ocean.´ 

The team witnessed far more diversity and abundance of midwater organisms than they expected, including glass squid and a pelagic octopus feeding on a bright red jellyfish.  

The list consists of an amphipod, a type of crustacean related to crabs and lobsters; a gossamer worm that moves faster than scientists expect it to based on its body shape; nine jellyfish; seven siphonophores, colonial organisms related to jellyfish and corals; seven comb jellies or ctenophores, famous for the glittering cilia they use to swim; four larvaceans, tadpole-like creatures that live in mucus houses and are more closely related to humans than invertebrates; and two giant rhizarians, single-celled organisms visible to the naked eye. 

Many midwater animals are gelatinous, with soft, delicate bodies that are often damaged by traditional sampling methods. To address this challenge, the expedition used additional technologies that allowed scientists to observe animals in a controlled environment that mimics their natural habitat. These included a virtual reality chamber developed at the University of Western Australia and a “gravity machine” developed at Stanford University – a specialized microscope that functions as a hydrodynamic treadmill for studying microbes.