Pink sea cucumbers & co.

Using DNA analyses: new species discovered in the sea

Recent DNA analyses have now shown that the pink sea cucumber called Psychropotes buglossa (pictured) is a separate species.(Bild: Amanda Serpell-Stevens/​Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung)

A team of researchers has discovered new species in the sea. The invertebrates live scattered around the world at depths of between around five and 7800 meters. The eleven new discoveries include small crustaceans that had previously puzzled scientists.

Pink-colored sea cucumbers that live in the depths of the Atlantic were also newly classified. The animal with the scientific name Psychropotes buglossa with its striking color was already described in 1886, but was then grouped together with eleven other species in 1975. More recent DNA analyses have now shown that it is a separate species.

The eleven new species include a crustacean that was previously only known through mysterious holes in the seabed, according to the specialist publication "Biodiversity Data Journal". It was only after prolonged observation that the animal itself was discovered and identified. It is now called Cunicolomaera grata ("favorite cave").

Millions of still unknown marine species
The world's oceans are under threat from climate change, pollution, plastic waste and overfishing, explains Torben Riehl from the Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum in Frankfurt. Most of the estimated two million marine species are still unknown. Many marine animals become extinct before they can be discovered and named. Invertebrate organisms are disproportionately affected by this.

A new initiative aims to counteract this: "Ocean Species Discoveries". This is a platform on which many species descriptions can be published within a short space of time in future. The eleven newly described species are the first in a whole series of publications from the initiative.

Only named species can be recorded on the Red List in order to influence political decisions, explains marine researcher Julia Sigwart. Ocean Species Discoveries" is coordinated by the Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA), a project of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum Frankfurt.