Scientists have identified 30 previously unknown deep-sea species in the Southern Ocean, including a carnivorous sponge dubbed the 'death ball'. The discoveries were made during an expedition to remote areas, revealing a wealth of undocumented biodiversity, with more species potentially awaiting confirmation.

A carnivorous "death ball" sponge is among 30 previously unknown deep-sea species found by scientists in one of the most remote parts of the planet. Researchers sampled the depths of the Southern Ocean , including volcanic calderas, the South Sandwich trench and seafloor habitats around Montagu and Saunders islands.

As well as the sponge, the scientists found new armoured and iridescent scale worms, previously unknown species of sea star, new crustaceans including isopods and amphipods, and rare gastropods and bivalves.Photograph: The Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census Schmidt Ocean Institute © 2025 Experts are also assessing additional possible new species, among them black corals, and a potential new sea pen genus. "The Southern Ocean remains profoundly undersampled," said Dr Michelle Taylor, head of science at the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census, which carried out the expedition. "To date, we have only assessed under 30% of the samples collected from this expedition, so confirming 30 new species already shows how much biodiversity is still undocumented."The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialNewsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you onto send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see ourThe spherical sponge, Chondrocladia sp nov, is covered in tiny hooks that trap prey, which is different to how sponges usually feed. Generally, sea sponges are passive filter feeders. During a series of expeditions, researchers collected nearly 2,000 specimens across 14 animal groups. They also took many hours of high-definition video of these scarcely explored habitats, including the

Deep-Sea Species Southern Ocean Marine Biology Biodiversity New Species Discovery

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