Overview
- Marine taxonomists have confirmed 117 new species from a 35-day Coral Sea expedition, with researchers expecting the total to top 200 as analyses progress.
- The RV Investigator left Brisbane in October and sampled depths from about 200 to 3,900 metres across the Coral Sea Marine Park using trawls, sleds and deep-towed cameras.
- Specimens were photographed and tissue-sampled on board, then sorted in large taxonomic workshops, and genetic tests are now verifying which fishes and invertebrates are new to science.
- Early highlights span brittlestars, crabs, sea anemones and sponges, while CSIRO’s Will White identified a new skate, two rays, a deepwater catshark and a chimaera.
- Collections at CSIRO and national museums are archiving the material to build baseline biodiversity records that could influence trawling permits and future deep-sea mining assessments.