Ciaran Mundy (@ciaranmundy.bsky.social)

24 Newly Discovered Species Reveal a New Branch of Life Hidden in the Deep Sea The deep sea is, in many ways, very similar to space — both are dark, inhospitable environments and largely underexplored. Take, for example, the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) — a 2.3 square-mile (6 million square-kilometer) section of the central Pacific Ocean that stretches from Hawai’i to Mexico. It is home to an eclectic mix of strange and exotic creatures adapted to deep-sea living, including sea cucumbers, carnivorous sponges, and a group of plant-like invertebrates called crinoids. Yet the vast majority of species inhabiting this region remain unnamed. In an attempt to rectify the situation, a team of scientists, writing in the journal ZooKeys, has described 24 species of crustaceans for the first time. Amongst the newly named species is a creature that belongs to an entirely new branch of life. “A new superfamily is very rarely found — even in the deep sea, where finding new species is very common,” co-author Tammy Horton of the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), U.K., told Discover. “It likely won’t happen again in my career.” Read More: 8,000 Suggestions Later, a Newly Discovered Deep-Sea Species Gets Its Name Naming 24 New Species Over the last few decades, hundreds of expeditions to the CCZ have taken thousands... https://www.discovermagazine.com/24-newly-discovered-species-reveal-a-new-branch-of-life-hidden-in-the-deep-sea-48894