Over the course of 13 expeditions and other efforts between mid-2025 and mid-2026, scientists found hundreds of previously undiscovered creatures living under the waves
Researchers conducting the Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census have discovered more than 1,100 new species, including this sea pen found in the South Sandwich Islands.
Paul Satchell/The Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census/Schmidt Ocean Institute
Less than 0.001 percent of the seafloor has ever been directly seen by scientists. From underwater trenches to sea caves, there are myriad spaces where undiscovered creatures may be lurking. And thanks to the Ocean Census Alliance, we now know of 1,121 entirely new species living beneath the ocean waves.
This global research collaboration aims to unveil as many new marine species as possible. Over the course of 13 expeditions and nine workshops in the past year, the alliance worked tirelessly to identify and categorize the new species—a process that is usually slow going.
“I think trying to speed that process up is very important,” says Michelle Taylor, head of science at the Ocean Census Alliance. “Then that information is available ... for conservation measures, for taxonomists and for just knowing what’s out there.”
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On average, more than 13 years pass between an unidentified specimen’s collection and its formal description as a new species. And for less studied organisms, such as sea sponges, that timeline can be even longer. As of 2011, scientists estimated that as much as 91 percent of the oceans’ species remained undiscovered—so fully describing all our planet’s marine inhabitants would take scientists centuries at the current pace.
This tiny dwarfgoby fish was found among the reefs of Australia’s remote Coral Sea. Unlike similar Australian Dwarfgoby species, which are usually green, this unique red-eyed specimen is mottled with oranges and yellows.
Chris Goatley/The Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census
For the past three years, the Ocean Census Alliance has been working with taxonomists around the world to accelerate discovery. Its open-access data platform Ocean Census NOVA now houses thousands of entries detailing previously unknown species lurking in the depths. The 1,121 new species found between mid-2025 and mid-2026 marks a 54 percent increase in annual identifications.
Off the coast of East Timor, researchers found vividly striped ribbon worms that they suspect could contain toxins that may yield new treatments for human diseases. And in a human-operated submersible off the coast of Japan, researchers picked out spiky sponges with skeletons made of clear, glasslike silica. Inside these creatures, they found a new species of similarly transparent worms—known as polychaetes—that provide the sponges with nutrients.
“Some of those polychaetes also bioluminesce, [or glow], so I just love the idea that there's these crystalline glass castles of sponges, and they’re probably twinkling at each other,” Taylor says.
This ribbon worm has vivid stripes that may serve to warn predators of its poison. Researchers are studying similar toxins from other Nemertea species as a potential treatment for conditions such as Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia.
The Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census/Gustav Paulay
Found nearly 800 meters below the surface, this translucent animal and one other are both the first of their species to be identified and the first bristle worms, or polychaetes, to be discovered living symbiotically within a glass sponge.
The Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census/JAMSTEC
Incredibly, the majority of new species discovered over the past year came not from new explorations of the ocean but from Ocean Census Alliance programs that funded researchers who already had specimens that they had yet to identify. Out of the 1,121 total new species, 728 were discovered by teams going through museum archives and their own collections.
The third known species in the rare Harenactis genus, this burrowing sea anemone buries itself in shallow water sediments within difficult to access intertidal zones. Researchers first discovered this specimen in 2010 but are only now starting to be able to define it as a new species.
The Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census/Agustín Garese
To identify a new species, researchers analyze specimens using microscopes, scans, dissections, and DNA testing and then make drawings and careful descriptions of what they see. It’s a process that typically requires deep expertise in the different kinds of organisms, enabling researchers to spot new species among their specimens.
“This takes a huge global village to contribute toward the 1,121 species that were discovered,” Taylor says. “I’m constantly amazed about the things that we find in our marine environment—it’s magical.”
Even near major cities, there are always more species to explore. These brightly banded shrimp were found in a sea cave near Marseille, France.
The Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census/Hossein Ashrafi
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