News

A coordinated survey of five methane seeps in Japan’s Nankai Trough documented 80 macro- and megafaunal species, over five times previous records. The findings reveal exceptional, depth-segregated biodiversity and provide crucial baselines for conservation amid growing methane hydrate exploitation.

The first deep-sea corals documented around Okinawa’s Minamidaito and Kitadaito Islands include Callogorgia cf. korema, Pleurocorallium inutile and Acanthopathes undulata. The findings extend known species distributions and highlight the need to protect these deep-sea habitats from anthropogenic impacts.

This short report provides the first observations of deep-sea corals belonging to the class Octocorallia and order Antipatharia surveyed during the KM24-03 Leg 2 cruise in the waters around Minamidaito and Kitadaito Islands in Okinawa, Japan between approximately 200 and 1,000 m.

A study of Bornean corallanid isopods identified four Argathona species, including three new species. The findings expand known diversity, reveal novel associations with four elasmobranch hosts, and transfer Alcirona grandis to Argathona, highlighting poorly documented isopod biodiversity in the Coral Triangle.

Thirty previously unknown deep-sea species, including a carnivorous “death-ball” sponge, have been confirmed from one of the most remote parts of the planet by The Nippon Foundation–Nekton Ocean Census and collaborators.

Dr. Clara Diaz is a member of the Ocean Census Science Network and a postdoctoral Research fellow at the University of Plymouth. Clara recently joined the 10-day FAO Tanzania expedition, as part of The Nansen Programme, to explore benthic habitats off the coast of Tanzania.

A study of the Arctic crustacean Amathillopsis spinigera expands its known range to 11–3182 m and documents its first HAUSGARTEN records after 25 years of sampling. Integrative taxonomy, ROV observations and genetic data provide new insights into its ecology and circumarctic distribution.

Museum specimens from South Africa enabled the redescription of Gnathia spongicola and discovery of two new species, G. brevicula and G. lancifera. The study increases known Gnathiidae diversity in the Temperate Southern Africa marine realm to 11 species.

A major revision of the Indo-Pacific gastropod genus Turridrupa recognises 30 species, including 15 new species. Morphological and genetic analyses support the species classifications, highlighting substantial previously overlooked diversity in tropical Indo-Pacific habitats.