An expedition to volcanic underwater mountains in the central eastern Indian Ocean has identified 149 new species of marine animals. The survey focused on seamounts around the Christmas and Cocos islands, located southwest of Indonesia.
The study, published in Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, details the discovery of species including a sea cucumber from the genus Oneirophanta, a new fish from the greeneye family (Chlorophthalmus), and a parasitic barnacle from the genus Rhizolepas. Researchers conducted surveys at depths ranging from 94 to 5,431 meters.
These underwater mountains, some up to 70 kilometers across and aged between 40 and 120 million years old, had not been studied for their deep-sea life prior to this expedition. The Indian Ocean’s deep-sea biodiversity remains relatively understudied compared to the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Source: Mongabay