Kingston, Jamaica – 4 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. Jini Jacob is a meiobenthologist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Thiruvananthapuram, India, specializing in the taxonomy of marine nematodes, microscopic, thread-like worms. Despite being invisible to the naked eye, nematodes are found in extraordinary numbers in marine sediments worldwide, playing essential roles in nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition and ecosystem functioning. In the deep sea, they form the backbone of meiofaunal communities.
Dr. Jacob’s research spans both deep-sea and coastal ecosystems, with a particular focus on the abyssal plains, nodule mining sites, oceanic ridges and seamount ecosystems of the Indian Ocean, a region that remains one of the most taxonomically under-explored ocean basins on the planet. Blending classical morphological taxonomy with molecular methods including DNA barcoding, she is steadily building a scientific record of nematode diversity in habitats ranging from mangroves to the deep seabed, advancing biodiversity knowledge and providing tools to assess ecosystem health in some of the ocean’s most sensitive and difficult to study environments.
Among her most significant recent findings are three forthcoming species descriptions of the genus Metadasynemella from the deep sea of the northern Indian Ocean. Metadasynemella is a genus so rare that only five valid species have been described worldwide to date, and none previously from the Indian Ocean. Their discovery points to a unique and largely unstudied nematode fauna in the region, and underscores how much foundational biodiversity knowledge remains to be established.
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?
The idea of “acting locally, for global impact” strongly resonates with taxonomy because species discovery often begins with localized sampling and careful observation. By documenting biodiversity from specific regions of the Indian Ocean, especially areas that remain poorly explored, researchers are contributing to the global understanding of deep-sea life and helping fill major biodiversity knowledge gaps.
Deep-sea ecosystems are increasingly under pressure from climate change, pollution and emerging industrial activities such as potential deep-sea mining. Knowing which species exist, where they occur, and how ecosystems are structured is critical for effective conservation and sustainable management. Every species description adds a piece to the larger puzzle of global marine biodiversity and strengthens the scientific foundation for international conservation policies and biodiversity frameworks.
Can you walk us through a recent discovery and what was most exciting or unexpected about it?
Formal species descriptions of deep-sea nematodes from the northern Indian Ocean remain exceptionally rare. Since the pioneering works of R. W. Timm in the 1960s and R. M. Warwick in 1973, there was a major gap in taxonomic descriptions from the eastern Arabian Sea and northern Indian Ocean until recent studies began addressing this shortfall through my research.
Among the most significant recent findings is the discovery of three novel species of the genus Metadasynemella from the deep sea of the northern Indian Ocean, which are currently being prepared for formal description. To date, only five valid species have been described worldwide, two of them based only on female specimens, and none previously from the Indian Ocean region. The discovery of multiple new species from such a rarely encountered genus deepens our understanding of deep-seabed biodiversity and reveals that the Indian Ocean contains a rich and unique meiofaunal community. This is important to receive continued funding for taxonomic research. Moreover, it is important to document species diversity before large-scale disturbances occur in order to monitor ecosystem changes, assess environmental impacts, and develop meaningful conservation strategies aligned with global biodiversity targets.
How do new tools like environmental DNA, AI-assisted image recognition and high-resolution video complement classical taxonomy?
Emerging technologies such as environmental DNA, AI-assisted imaging and high-resolution microscopy are transforming biodiversity research and greatly enhancing our ability to study deep-sea ecosystems. However, classical taxonomy remains fundamental because species descriptions, diagnostic characters and reference specimens provide the framework upon which these newer approaches depend. Molecular datasets and AI systems are only as reliable as the taxonomic reference libraries used to train and validate them.
In my own work, I apply an integrative taxonomic approach that combines detailed morphological analysis with molecular tools such as DNA barcoding. High-resolution imaging techniques, digital illustration tools and image enhancement software have significantly improved the accuracy of documenting diagnostic structures in microscopic organisms like nematodes. Rather than replacing classical taxonomy, these technologies work best when integrated with traditional expertise, helping to accelerate biodiversity assessments while maintaining scientific reliability.
Why does ISA’s One Thousand Reasons campaign matter for advancing this kind of research?
Initiatives such as the One Thousand Reasons campaign are extremely important because they recognize that taxonomy is foundational to understanding and protecting deep-sea ecosystems. Taxonomic research is time-intensive and requires highly specialized expertise, yet it historically receives limited funding and visibility. Programs like this help accelerate species discovery, support early- and mid-career researchers, and create opportunities for international collaboration. They also help communicate to wider audiences that biodiversity knowledge is essential for environmental governance, conservation planning and the sustainable management of ocean resources.
Why does data sharing and collaboration across institutions matter for understanding the deep seabed?
Deep-sea biodiversity research is inherently collaborative because no single institution or country can fully document the enormous diversity of the oceans alone. Data sharing and international collaboration allow scientists to compare species across regions, standardize methodologies, improve taxonomic accuracy and build stronger biodiversity baselines. This is especially important in the deep sea, where sampling opportunities are limited and specimens are difficult to obtain.
Collaborating with taxonomists from different parts of the world has shown me how valuable museum collections and shared reference databases are for identifying rare or previously undescribed species. A species discovered and described from one locality may ultimately contribute to global biodiversity inventories, environmental assessments, evolutionary studies and conservation strategies that benefit ocean management worldwide. That is the principle of “act locally, for global impact” in practice.
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 helping strengthen the global capacity for deep-sea taxonomy while reducing major biodiversity knowledge gaps, particularly in underrepresented regions such as the Indian Ocean. I hope to contribute to training and mentoring the next generation of taxonomists, especially young researchers interested in meiofauna and deep-sea biodiversity. There is an urgent need to preserve and transfer taxonomic expertise, as many specialist groups currently have very few active experts worldwide.
I would also like to see stronger integration of taxonomy with molecular biology, digital imaging, AI-assisted workflows and open-access biodiversity databases, making taxonomic knowledge more accessible and interoperable for use in environmental policy and governance. With coordinated global efforts, improved training, and integration of new technologies, I hope the current average timeline of approximately 13 years from sampling to species description can be shortened significantly, allowing biodiversity knowledge to contribute more rapidly to conservation and environmental decision-making. Ultimately, I hope biodiversity knowledge generated through taxonomy becomes more effectively incorporated into deep-sea environmental management, conservation planning and international decision-making processes linked to the Global Biodiversity Framework and sustainable ocean governance.
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.
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ISA Communications Unit, news@isa.org.jm
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