Kingston, Jamaica – 8 June 2026 – This year, the International Day for Biological Diversity calls us to “act locally for global impact,” a principle that resonates deeply with the scientists working to document life in the most remote reaches of our oceans. In the deep seabed, where darkness, cold and crushing pressure define the environment, most species remain unknown to science. Identifying, naming and describing them, the work of taxonomists, is one of the most locally grounded acts in biology research which requires hands-on study of individual specimens from sparse sites. And yet its impact is unmistakably global. Named species can be tracked, protected and incorporated into the international frameworks that govern our shared ocean, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), which sets ambitious targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. The work of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) also depends on this knowledge to fulfill its responsibilities under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – to regulate and control mineral-related activities in the international seabed Area while protecting the marine environment – and to ensure the sustainable development of deep-sea activities.
As part of the observance of International Day for Biological Diversity, ISA is spotlighting five taxonomists whose work carried out locally, in laboratories and at sea, is contributing to a growing global understanding of the biodiversity of the deep seabed. Their discoveries, supported by ISA’s Sustainable Seabed Knowledge Initiative (SSKI), directly advance the One Thousand Reasons campaign, which aims to formally describe at least one thousand new deep-sea species by 2030 in collaboration with the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Together, these efforts are shaping how the international community understands, monitors, and protects the deep seabed and how it can effectively implement the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement).
Dr. Magdalini Christodoulou is a marine taxonomist at the Biology Centre of the Upper Austria Landes-Kultur GmbH, working in close collaboration with the German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research. Her work focuses on the taxonomy of deep-sea echinoderms, a group that includes sea stars, brittle stars and sea urchins. Much of her research focuses on the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ), a region that spans approximately six million square kilometres between Hawaiʻi and Mexico in the central Pacific Ocean. Despite growing scientific interest in the CCZ, largely driven in part by the prospect of deep-sea mining, it remains one of the least explored regions on Earth. Dr. Christodoulou’s taxonomy work is helping to change that.
Her recent research has contributed to the formal description of new species including Caymanostella hades, C. persephone and Ophiotholia saskia, and in a separate study focused on brittle stars from the CCZ. The known biodiversity of the brittle start group increased fourfold while entirely new evolutionary lineages were discovered. Among her most striking recent findings was the discovery of two new Caymanostella sea star species collected from the same piece of sunken wood, a so-called “wood fall,” at a depth of around 4,500 metres. This research discovery was supported by the ISA’s One Thousand Reasons campaign. The co-occurrence of two distinct new species on a single, rarely encountered habitat raises profound questions about how deep-sea life disperses, specializes and survives in one of the most resource-limited environments on the planet.
This year’s International Day for Biodiversity theme calls us to “act locally for global impact.” How does your taxonomy work connect to this idea?
This theme really captures the essence of taxonomy. My work focuses on identifying and describing species from the deep sea, and although these discoveries are made at a local scale, often within very specific regions, they contribute to building a much clearer and broader picture of global ocean biodiversity. Every time a species is identified or described, we gain important knowledge about how these ecosystems function and how they could potentially respond to environmental change or human impact.
Although the work may seem highly local, based on material collected from specific expeditions or areas of the seafloor, the impact is global because the oceans are deeply interconnected. My research has contributed to expanding known species distributions, describing new species, and improving our understanding of deep-sea biodiversity patterns by comparing the fauna of subregions. Accurate taxonomy supports governments, scientists and policymakers in making informed decisions on issues such as Areas of Particular Environmental Interest (APEIS) and Regional Environmental Management Plans (REMPs), biodiversity monitoring and emerging activities like deep-sea mining. Ultimately, taxonomy provides the baseline knowledge needed to protect biodiversity. I firmly believe, like many other deep seabed taxonomists, we cannot conserve what we do not yet know exists.
Can you walk us through a recent discovery and what was most exciting or unexpected about it?
A recent and particularly exciting discovery was the identification of two new species of the genus Caymanostella collected from the same piece of wood, a “wood fall,” in the CCZ at depths of around 4,500 metres. These species belong to a relatively rare group of sea stars associated with wood-fall habitats.
Wood falls, pieces of wood that sink from the ocean surface to the deep seafloor, create small, temporary islands of life in an otherwise food-limited environment. Because they are so rarely encountered, they represent highly specialised and ephemeral habitats. Finding new species associated with them highlights just how much deep-sea biodiversity remains undocumented, even in regions that are increasingly being explored in the context of potential deep-sea mining activities.
What was particularly unexpected was the co-occurrence of two distinct new species on a single wood fall, suggesting a high degree of specialization and potentially complex ecological interactions within this type of habitat. It also raises fascinating questions about how these organisms disperse across vast deep-sea distances and locate such rare and short-lived resources.
How do new tools like environmental DNA, AI-assisted image recognition and high-resolution video complement classical taxonomy?
While these new technologies have the potential to significantly reinforce deep-sea biodiversity research, they cannot fully replace classical taxonomy. They, however, can be complementary. Environmental DNA, AI-assisted image recognition and high-resolution imaging can greatly increase the speed and scale at which we detect biodiversity. In the deep sea, where sampling is logistically challenging and many species are rare or occur at low abundance, these tools help capture signals of biodiversity that might otherwise be missed.
Classical taxonomy remains essential because these methods often stop at detection. eDNA can tell us that a species is present, but it does not always allow confirmation down to species level, nor does it provide information on life stage or morphology. AI-based identifications are only as good as the reference datasets they are trained on, which in the deep sea are still incomplete. The most robust approach is an integrative one, combining morphology, molecular data, ecological context and, where available, imagery or in situ observations. In my own recent work, I have applied high-resolution imaging and molecular sequencing alongside classical morphological taxonomy, helping to strengthen species delimitation and provide a more complete understanding of deep-sea biodiversity.
Why does ISA’s One Thousand Reasons campaign matter for advancing this kind of research?
Initiatives such as the One Thousand Reasons campaign are important because they bring greater visibility to taxonomy and help accelerate both the discovery and documentation of deep-sea biodiversity at a time when this knowledge is urgently needed. They provide the means to optimise taxonomic research by enabling the full utilisation of logistically difficult and costly collected samples, facilitating exchange between expert teams and supporting shared use of infrastructure and expertise across institutions.
By highlighting concrete discoveries and linking them to broader biodiversity and conservation goals, these initiatives demonstrate the real-world value of taxonomy and baseline science. They reinforce the idea that documenting biodiversity is not an ephemeral task, but an ongoing scientific foundation. Such initiatives also ensure that taxonomy remains supported as a core discipline directly connected to global biodiversity policy and conservation priorities.
Why does data sharing and collaboration across institutions matter for understanding the deep seabed?
Data sharing and collaboration are essential for understanding and managing the deep seabed because no single institution or country can fully study such a vast, remote and complex environment alone. As different institutions share expertise, reference collections, molecular facilities, imaging capabilities and historical material species can be accurately identified and described.
The new Caymanostella species, for example, were collected during the JPI Oceans Mining Impact project, a joint European campaign in the CCZ that brings together over 30 partner institutions across Europe, led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. The project provides an independent, transdisciplinary environmental assessment of the potential impacts of deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining, and the specimens collected through it were later described through collaboration between scientists from multiple institutions. Collaborating with other taxonomists has given me the opportunity to learn different methodologies and improve the reliability of species identification through cross-validation and shared knowledge. A new species discovered locally forms the basis of a much larger global effort to understand and protect marine biodiversity, strongly reflecting the idea of “act locally, for global impact.”
What would success look like in the next decade in terms of reducing the taxonomic data gap and improving how biodiversity knowledge feeds into deep-sea governance?
For me, success over the next decade would mean seeing taxonomy placed more centrally within deep-sea science and better supported and integrated into both research and policymaking. One of the main priorities is building the next generation of deep-sea taxonomists, as a shortage of expertise persists globally, particularly for many understudied deep-sea groups. Success would include creating more dedicated positions within relevant institutions, alongside opportunities for training, mentorship and international collaboration.
I would also like to see biodiversity knowledge more directly embedded into deep-sea governance and decision-making. Taxonomy is often viewed as a purely descriptive science, but it underpins everything from biodiversity assessments to conservation planning and environmental impact assessment. Success would mean ensuring that robust taxonomic data are recognised as essential evidence for policymaking and for achieving broader international commitments, including the goals of the KMGBF. Documenting biodiversity must be treated as a fundamental requirement for understanding and sustainably managing the deep seabed.
About ISA
ISA is an autonomous intergovernmental organization mandated by the UNCLOS to manage the mineral resources of the seabed beyond national jurisdiction for the shared benefit of humankind. ISA is committed to ensuring that all economic activities in the deep seabed, including mining, are regulated and responsibly managed using the best available scientific evidence for the benefit of all humankind.
About the “One Thousand Reasons” Campaign
Launched by the ISA under SSKI, it is a global effort to describe at least 1,000 new deep-sea species by 2030. The campaign promotes international collaboration, particularly engaging scientists from developing States, and integrates species descriptions into open-access databases to support sustainable management of the international seabed area.
SSKI is a multi-donor, flagship initiative under the ISA’s Marine Scientific Research Action Plan for the implementation of the UN Decade of Ocean Science. The Initiative has received significant financial support from the European Union, the Republic of Korea, France, Ireland, China, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), Portugal and India.
For media inquiries, please contact:
ISA Communications Unit, news@isa.org.jm
—————
For more information, visit our website, www.isa.org.jm