Our community of taxonomists and marine scientists has grown so much since the start of the Ocean Census. Thank you so much to all who contribute. Opportunities in the Science Network: oceancensus.org/science-netw...

I’m here for this “carnivorous death ball sponge” - don’t mess with sponges!! They have so many ways to kill you (if you are a marine invertebrate)

It's #SeaSlugDay! To celebrate we have selected these beautiful illustrations from 'A Monograph of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca' volume 1, published by @raysocietybooks.bsky.social. You can find two copies in the rare books room @thembauk.bsky.social 📖 BL.48/A

Announcement: 30 new species discovered from expeditions to the Southern Ocean. Read more 👇 oceancensus.org/press-releas... @schmidtocean.bsky.social #NewSpecies

Ocean Census is currently on board the #FirstDescentComoros expedition with partners Nekton. Watch the short mission trailer below and find out what the team are exploring! youtu.be/Do19IAm6vVw?...

NEW SPECIES of mangrove crab discovered in Western Australia, and registered to the Ocean Census. Congratulations to Ocean Census Science Network member Dr Andrew Hosie and Ana Hara from #WAMuseum. 👇 visit.museum.wa.gov.au/learn/news-s... @cirripedia.bsky.social

What lives on underwater mountains that rise 3,000m from the seafloor? 🌋 The Coral Sea Marine Park is the largest marine park in Australia. Scientists are investigating the seafloor biodiversity of two spectacular features of the marine park oceancensus.org/expeditions/... 📸 CSIRO

We’ve had a fantastic few days at #IUCNCongress. Today is the last day to learn more about our species discovery mission. Ocean Census is at Booth 136 in the Exhibition Hall.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has just been updated and now includes assessments of 1,266 species of sharks, rays, and chimaeras.

Maya de Paz of @oceancensus.bsky.social welcomed our marketing and sales manager @maria-kolesnikova.bsky.social at their booth at #IUCNCongress today! We have partnered with Ocean Census on numerous occasions, publishing descriptions of new species from deep-sea explorations in our journals.

We’ve arrived at the #IUCN World Conservation Congress! The Ocean Census is proud to join the world’s largest gathering for nature conservation. 🐙 Come and meet us at Booth #136 in the Exhibition Hall (Hall 9)! #IUCNWCC #WCC2025 #MarineConservation #SpeciesDiscovery

Today on #WorldOctopusDay we celebrate the diversity of these incredible cephalopods. There are around 300 known species of octopus, with more still being discovered. The images below were captured on this year's #SouthSandwichIslands expedition with partners @schmidtocean.bsky.social#WorldOctopusDay

Meet Jingchun Li, Curator of Invertebrates at University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and member of the Ocean Census Science Network. She specialises in "some of the most unusual bivalves in the ocean".

This afternoon our Science Manager, Dr Verity Nye, presented at the 12th World Sponge Conference in Portugal. We have had a fantastic week collaborating with the global sponge community and celebrating the progress being made in marine research. oceancensus.org/science-netw...

All set up and excited to meet lots of sponge biologists this week at the 12th World Sponge Conference in Portugal! 🧽 @wscommunity.bsky.social If you are attending, come and ask us about funding for species discovery, expeditions and species discovery workshop opportunities. www.oceancensus.org

There are currently 9,492 marine sponge species recognised in WoRMS. 🧽 With more discoveries to be made, the Ocean Census Science Network needs more sponge experts. Come and chat to us at the World Sponge Conference to find out how you can support species discovery. @wscommunity.bsky.social

This week we’re at the World Sponge Conference in Portugal! Stay tuned for plenty of sponge-inspired content as we celebrate these ancient and vital ocean architects. If you are attending this week, come and visit our booth, located at the theatre hall entrance. @wscommunity.bsky.social

Can you tell if a coral is “pregnant”? We asked Ocean Census Science Network member Luisa Dueñas all about her work on deep-sea octocorals. 🔗 Find out here oceancensus.org/exploring-de...

Searching for new species? It’s not always so shrimple! 🦐 A red fog of crustaceans became quite the challenge for scientists searching for new species on the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition. 📸 Alex Ingle / Schmidt Ocean Institute

🌱 Bamboo: fast growing, annoys your neighbours. 🌊 Bamboo coral: slow growing, made up of neighbours - thousands of tiny polyps living and working together! This particular specimen (Keratoisididae) was found at a depth of 959m during the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition.

For Dr Sonia Rowley, diving among gorgonian octocorals brings moments of pure excitement. Spotting a familiar species is like meeting an old friend, while discovering one for the first time is unforgettable. Watch Gorgonians of the Mesophotic youtu.be/H_1n5CQgWo8

The Ocean Census is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Species Discovery Awards. The Awards provide financial support to talented marine scientists driving the discovery and description of life in our ocean. Meet the 2025 Awardees: oceancensus.org/the-ocean-ce...

On #WorldPhotographyDay we’re celebrating how images help scientists discover and describe new species. From revealing colours and features that fade in preservation, to identifying morphological details under the microscope, images are central to taxonomy. Can you think of any more examples?

Ernest Ohandja Nomo is leading an expedition studying annelid worms in the Gulf of Guinea. His research will document biodiversity in some of West Africa’s most ecologically important but under-studied habitats. Meet the 2025 Ocean Census Expedition Awardees ➡️ oceancensus.org/the-ocean-ce...

Dr. Andreas Altenburger is sailing from Greenland to Alaska as part of One Ocean Expedition II, investigating the biodiversity of marine animals in Arctic sediments. Meet the 2025 Ocean Census Expedition Awardees ➡️ oceancensus.org/the-ocean-ce...

Meet Team Polychaete 🪱 Americo Montiel and Tania Figueroa Delgado (Universidad de Magallanes) are analysing polychaetes at the Ocean Census Species Discovery Workshop in Chile. This particular specimen is a potential new species from the #SouthSandwichIslands.

Jan will join a pioneering deep-sea survey off Uruguay’s coast, with @schmidtocean.bsky.social. The team will be exploring sponge fields, coral gardens, and cold seeps using ROVs Meet the 2025 Ocean Census Expedition Awardees ➡️ oceancensus.org/the-ocean-ce...

Dan Ishibashi is exploring submarine caves off the coast of southern Japan, with JAMSTEC. Meet the 2025 Ocean Census Expedition Awardees ➡️ oceancensus.org/the-ocean-ce...

Dr Daniel Lauretta is onboard @schmidtocean.bsky.social's research vessel, leading a team of scientists studying marine life in one of Argentina's deepest underwater canyons. Meet the 2025 Ocean Census Expedition Awardees ➡️ oceancensus.org/the-ocean-ce...

Prof. Simone Nunes Brandao is surveying one of the least sampled coastal areas in the world. Meet the 2025 Ocean Census Expedition Awardees ➡️ oceancensus.org/the-ocean-ce...

This year, Ocean Census is proud to support six scientists on expeditions around the world. From submarine caves to tropical coastlines. Meet the 2025 Ocean Census Expedition Awardees🔗 oceancensus.org/the-ocean-ce... #ExpeditionAwards

During the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition March, scientists discovered coral gardens, new hydrothermal vents, and a wide variety of deep-sea life - including many suspected new species. 🪸 Now scientists are investigating whether these are indeed new to science oceancensus.org/discovering-...

🦞 Meet Galathea tukitukimea, a brand new species of squat lobster! This species marks the first record of the Galathea genus in both Chilean waters and this part of the Pacific 🥇 🔗 Read the paper zookeys.pensoft.net/article/1595...

Soaking up lots of love for sponges! We’re proud to be sponsoring the World Sponge Conference in Portugal, kicking off five weeks from today. Click here to see the programme: worldspongecommunity.com/program/ #WSC2025 📸 Sponges of the SE Pacific. Schmidt Ocean Institute @wscommunity.bsky.social

This week Ocean Census scientists are at Universidad de Magallanes in Chile, to study potential new marine species from the Southern Ocean and South Sandwich Islands. 🔬 New species pending? 🔗 oceancensus.org/discovering-...

Head(less) for heights? 🌌 This headless chicken monster (Enypniastes eximia) was caught gliding above a bed of stars - brittle stars, that is - on the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition. 📸 @schmidtocean.bsky.social

In December, the first of three species discovery workshops in Chile took place at Universidad Católica del Norte. Scientists studied 160+ sea stars and 738 brittle stars from the SE Pacific, identifying 46 potential new species. oceancensus.org/following-th...

Members of the Ocean Census Science Network: check your inboxes! 👀📬 The July edition of the Ocean Census newsletter has landed. Find out more about opportunities through the Science Network: oceancensus.org/science-netw...

We're proud to be sponsoring the World Sponge Conference this year! Will we see you there? Let us know in the comments if you're coming 👇🧽

"I've often thought that if I were to have my career again, I would become a taxonomist." Marine conservationist Prof Nick Dulvy reflects on the importance of taxonomy in protecting the ocean's top predators. 🎥 Watch Discovering the Ocean's Lost Sharks: youtu.be/xYuTXE2Ovmk?...

Expedition underway! Ocean Census scientist Luisa Dueñas sets sail on @nautiluslive.org's latest mission to the Marshall Islands. This atoll-based nation is surrounded by over 2 million square kilometres of ocean, much of it never mapped or surveyed. More: oceancensus.org/expeditions/...

“Sponges are among the least studied organisms in Peru, along with many others that at first glance seem to have no significant importance to humans. As a result, the biodiversity of our country is highly undervalued” — Hugo Vicente, sponge biologist Read the article oceancensus.org/more-than-ju...

A fascinating new study published this week in @nature.com confirms that deep-sea ecosystems across the global ocean are remarkably connected. The paper uncovers evolutionary links among brittle stars that stretch across entire ocean basins! Read the article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

At the end of the recent species discovery workshop in Chile, scientists were gifted with beautiful models of their marine specialism, handcrafted by the talented Soy de Lanita. If you could have a crochet creature, what would it be?

What’s it like to dive thousands of metres in one of the world’s deepest-diving submersibles? 💭 To mark Marine Day (海の日, Umi no Hi), Japan’s national celebration of the ocean, we’re pleased to share a new film: To Dive Into Deep Waters. 🎥 Watch the film now: youtu.be/IOofD2yqvTA?...

This siphonophore, from the genus Bathyphysa, has a fantastic common name - the flying spaghetti monster! Filmed by @schmidtocean.bsky.social during an expedition in July last year, this encounter was a beautiful moment as the team were exploring the seamounts of the Nazca Ridge.

Of the 1,300 shark species known, 25% have been discovered in the last 20 years. With more than a third of sharks and rays at threat of extinction, the race is on to bring these lost sharks out of the shadows. Watch the full film: youtu.be/xYuTXE2Ovmk

This coral (family Keratoisididae) was found at a depth of 959m during the #SouthSandwichIslands expedition with @schmidtocean.bsky.social, during exploration of a volcanic crater. At the site the team found some of the shallowest hydrothermal vents in the area oceancensus.org/press-releas...

The Shichiyo seamounts, located off the coast of Japan, are a data-poor yet biologically significant region. The #Shinkai6500 team reached a depth of 1059m, collecting biological samples for analysis at an upcoming Species Discovery Workshop. Among the specimens was a sea pen (Pennatulacea).

Today on #SharkAwarenessDay 🦈 we’re pleased to release a new film "Discovering Lost Sharks", with Dr Dave Ebert. The film spotlights the race to discover new shark species, that are at risk of being lost before they’ve even been found. Full film here: youtu.be/xYuTXE2Ovmk?...