More than 1,100 new marine species discovered in a single year

A tally that exceeds every expectation

How many species still live in the oceans without ever having been observed by a human being? The answer remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the pace of discovery is accelerating dramatically. The international initiative Ocean Census has announced cataloguing 1,121 new marine species in a single year of worldwide exploration, a record figure that shows just how much remains to be mapped beneath the surface of our seas.

For a project so young, this scale of output is remarkable. Ocean Census only launched a few years ago with the explicit ambition of dramatically speeding up the rate at which new marine life gets formally identified, and this latest tally suggests that ambition is already paying off in very concrete terms.

This tally, announced in May 2026, marks a remarkable acceleration compared with the previous year, with a 54% increase in the number of species discovered. A result made possible by an international scientific mobilization of a scale rarely seen in the field of marine biodiversity.

Thirteen expeditions, nine workshops, one shared goal

To achieve this result, the Ocean Census initiative organized thirteen expeditions and nine scientific workshops spread across the globe. This logistical and scientific coordination brought together more than 800 taxonomists from 85 different countries, a collective effort that illustrates just how deeply international research into ocean biodiversity has become today.

A ghost shark and a worm in a glass castle

Among this year's most striking discoveries is a deep-sea ghost shark, a rare creature belonging to a group of cartilaginous fish that has been evolving for hundreds of millions of years in the darkness of the ocean depths. Another discovery particularly captured attention: a bristle worm living literally in a "glass castle," a translucent structure it builds itself for protection in its abyssal environment.

To these two examples can be added new corals, crabs, and anemones, discovered at dizzying depths of up to 6,575 meters. At such depths, pressure is immense, sunlight is completely absent, and yet life continues to thrive in forms that science is only just beginning to document.

Biodiversity concentrated in barely explored zones

A large share of these new species come from particularly under-explored ocean zones, such as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the central Pacific, a region spanning roughly six million square kilometers between Hawaii and Mexico. According to researchers' estimates, more than 90% of the species living in this single zone still lack an official scientific name, a figure that gives a sense of the sheer discovery work still to be done.

This zone draws particular interest not only from scientists but also economically, due to the presence of polymetallic nodules coveted for deep-sea mining — a context that makes the work of cataloguing species all the more urgent before any potential industrial exploitation.

Describing a species: a long, rigorous process

Discovering an unknown creature at sea is not enough to officially make it a new species. What follows is meticulous work in taxonomy, the science of classifying living things, comparing the discovered organism against every already-catalogued species, analyzing its anatomy, sometimes its genome, and writing up a formal scientific description published in a specialized journal. This process can take months, or even years, which explains why many species already collected during earlier expeditions are still awaiting their official description.

The pace announced by Ocean Census — around 25 new species described per year in certain specific zones, such as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, before the recent acceleration — shows just how much this work remains a major bottleneck in the discovery of marine biodiversity. The stated goal of the "One Thousand Reasons" program is to describe a thousand new species by the end of the decade, an ambitious goal given the historical pace.

A sometimes surprising naming process

The names given to new species often reflect the personality of the researchers who describe them. Some species are named in honor of fellow scientists, others after loved ones, and some carry names drawn directly from pop culture — one newly discovered amphipod species was named after a video game character. These choices, far from being trivial, help humanize scientific work that the public often perceives as austere.

More powerful exploration technologies

This spectacular acceleration in the pace of discovery is largely explained by the ongoing improvement of underwater exploration technologies. Remotely operated vehicles capable of filming and collecting samples several thousand meters down, paired with increasingly fast genetic analysis techniques, now make it possible to identify and document species that would have remained invisible just fifteen years ago.

The international coordination set up by initiatives like Ocean Census also plays a decisive role. By bringing together taxonomists from dozens of countries for dedicated workshops, these programs allow sample collections to be processed in a matter of days that would otherwise have waited years to be formally described by isolated, scattered teams.

A race against the clock

This acceleration comes at a time when marine ecosystems face mounting pressures: warming waters, ocean acidification, plastic pollution, and deep-sea mining projects. Documenting existing biodiversity before it is potentially affected by these pressures represents a major scientific and environmental challenge for the decades ahead.

Several researchers involved in the project stress the urgency of this race against time: understanding the species that inhabit the deep sea is a necessary precondition for properly assessing the impact of any future human activity in these still largely pristine zones.

A better map of global biodiversity

Every newly documented species enriches our overall understanding of marine biodiversity and helps refine the ecological models used to study how ocean ecosystems function. Researchers hope that this rapid accumulation of data will, over time, lead to a better understanding of the complex relationships between deep-sea species and the role they play in essential cycles, such as ocean carbon regulation.

This finer-grained mapping could also influence international policy decisions on protecting deep ocean zones, notably as part of the international discussions led by the International Seabed Authority on deep-sea mining.

A job that has only just begun

Despite this impressive tally, scientists insist that most of the work still lies ahead. Oceans cover more than 70% of the planet's surface, and a vast share of their depths remains completely unexplored. The current pace of discovery, however impressive, likely represents only a fraction of what remains to be catalogued in the decades to come.

Some researchers involved with Ocean Census have gone so far as to suggest that the true number of undiscovered marine species could run into the millions, particularly among smaller invertebrates that are far harder to spot and collect than larger, more charismatic creatures like sharks or octopuses. That estimate alone puts the current record-breaking year into perspective as merely an early chapter in a much longer story.

The economic stakes behind an ecological rush

Beyond the purely scientific dimension, this accelerated discovery effort intersects with pressing economic questions about who gets to decide the fate of the deep sea. Governments, mining companies, and conservation groups are all watching the same patch of ocean floor with very different priorities in mind, which adds a layer of urgency to every new species Ocean Census manages to formally describe.

Precious nodules at the heart of tensions

The Clarion-Clipperton Zone, rich in polymetallic nodules containing nickel, cobalt, and manganese, has for several years drawn the attention of mining companies interested in extracting these resources, notably for making electric batteries. This industrial interest puts scientists in a race against time: documenting local biodiversity before any mining permits are potentially issued by the International Seabed Authority.

Marine conservation advocates point out that the vast majority of species living in this zone have yet to be described, which makes it particularly difficult to seriously assess the potential environmental impact of any large-scale mining operation. The Ocean Census program fits directly into this effort of prior documentation, seen by many scientists as essential before any irreversible industrial decision.

A scientific and political debate that remains open

Several governments and environmental organizations are calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining as long as scientific knowledge of these ecosystems remains so incomplete. Conversely, other stakeholders argue that these mineral resources are necessary for the global energy transition, creating a palpable tension between economic imperatives and environmental caution.

This controversy shows how the discoveries made by Ocean Census go well beyond pure scientific interest: they directly feed into a global political and economic debate over the future of exploiting deep ocean resources.

A tally that calls for scientific humility

Cataloguing more than 1,121 new marine species in a single year is a reminder of just how partial our knowledge of the oceans remains, despite centuries of maritime exploration. This acceleration in discoveries, driven by unprecedented international collaboration, illustrates the vitality of a scientific field that continues to reveal creatures as strange as they are fascinating, from ghost sharks to worms that build their own glass castles.

It also underscores the urgency of documenting this biodiversity before environmental pressures and industrial exploitation projects potentially disrupt its balance, in some of the most remote and least understood zones on our planet.

A call to keep exploring

Given the scale of what remains to be discovered, Ocean Census leaders are calling for this international cataloguing effort to be maintained, even intensified. An ambitious but necessary goal if we ever hope to compile a complete inventory of the life inhabiting the depths of our oceans, still today largely mysterious.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist

Editorial stance

I am not a journalist but a columnist and analyst. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies.

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