Taxonomists working on samples from a deep-sea canyon off Argentina have identified 57 new marine species and five new genera, including a horned sea cucumber they nicknamed “Loki,” Discover Wildlife reported.
The animals came from the Mar del Plata Canyon, which drops more than 3,500 meters, or about 11,500 feet, in the area where the Brazil and Malvinas currents meet off Argentina and Uruguay.
How they were found
The specimens were collected in July and August 2025 during a Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition aboard the research vessel Falkor (too). A remotely operated vehicle called SuBastian gathered animals from the canyon floor with a manipulator arm and broadcast live video, which more than 4 million people watched.
A year later, in July 2026, the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census and the Schmidt Ocean Institute brought 20 taxonomists from Latin America and Europe together for a species discovery workshop. Working for about two weeks, they also examined older samples from Argentine expeditions in 2012 and 2013.
The new species break down as 20 copepods, which are tiny crustaceans; 22 echinoderms, sea cucumbers and crinoids; 14 cnidarians, including corals and sea pens; and one tusk-shaped mollusc.
The researchers had examined only about 10% of the copepod samples, and every specimen they looked at turned out to be new to science, according to the report.
A few of the finds
The sea cucumber called Loki, a species of Peniagone, is named for horn-like appendages that reminded scientists of the Norse god. It is one of up to 10 new sea cucumber species from the canyon.
Others include a bright red-orange octocoral photographed at 1,954 meters, a bright purple sea cucumber found on the seabed and a new sea pen. A bright orange sea star that resembled a cartoon character turned out not to be a new species.
“Discovering 57 new species and five genera in just two weeks demonstrates the speed and power of collaborative taxonomy,” said Michelle Taylor, head of science at Ocean Census. “The deep sea holds some of the least understood ecosystems on Earth.”
Daniel Lauretta of Argentina’s national science council, CONICET, who led the expedition, said, “International cooperation in taxonomy is critical, especially in groups with few active specialists.”
What comes next
The specimens will be kept permanently at the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences in Buenos Aires. The new species are being logged on Ocean Census NOVA, an open-access database for newly discovered marine life.
A follow-up expedition with the Schmidt Ocean Institute is planned for February and March 2027 to explore a different submarine canyon that scientists suspect is home to many species found nowhere else.
The bottom line
More than a mile beneath the South Atlantic, a single canyon produced dozens of animals no one had described, and the researchers have barely started on the samples. The work is a reminder of how much of the ocean floor is still unexplored, and the scientists plan to go back to another canyon in early 2027.