Kingston, Jamaica – 26 March 2026 – The deep seabed is teeming with life. From the sediment plains of the abyssal zone to the extreme pressures of hadal trenches, species have evolved over millions of years into forms of extraordinary complexity and resilience. Scientists and governments alike are actively investing in understanding the biodiversity of the deep seabed. That growing body of knowledge equips decision makers to act responsibly and ensure global stewardship of the deep seabed.
Taxonomy is the science of identifying, describing, classifying and naming living organisms. It is one of humanity’s oldest and most foundational scientific disciplines. When Carl Linnaeus published his landmark Systema Naturae in 1735, he gave the scientific world a shared language: the binomial nomenclature system that still underpins the formal naming of every species on Earth.
Taxonomy has since evolved from hand-drawn illustrations and preserved museum specimens into an integrated discipline that incorporates molecular genetics, digital databases and AI-assisted identification. Its purpose, however, has remained consistent: to give every living organism a name, a description and a place in the tree of life.
Among the scientists contributing to this effort are two Spanish taxonomists, Alberto González Casarrubios and Nuria Sánchez Santos, whose work in the hadal depths of the Pacific Ocean is expanding scientific understanding of life in the deep seabed.
González Casarrubios and Sánchez Santos’ research, funded by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), focuses on two of the least-studied groups of marine meiofauna: Kinorhyncha and Loricifera. These microscopic sediment-dwelling invertebrates, called “mud dragons” and “corset animals” respectively, inhabit deep-sea sediments. Kinorhyncha are tiny, segmented animals less than one millimetre in length that burrow through the mud and sand of the seabed. Despite their small size, they play ecologically significant roles as decomposers and contributors to nutrient cycling. Loricifera, discovered only in 1983, still remains understudied. Together, these organisms contribute to the functioning of deep-sea ecosystems.
Currently under scientific review, González Casarrubios and Sánchez Santos have recently identified a new species within the genus Echinoderes, the most species-rich genus within Kinorhyncha. What makes this discovery particularly significant is that the specimens possess a morphological feature whose absence had long been considered a defining diagnostic trait of the family. González Casarrubios proudly says, “This finding is a clear indicator of the vast diversity yet to be discovered and the countless mysteries hidden within the deep ocean.”
Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis, AI-assisted image recognition and high-resolution underwater video are transforming how scientists survey deep-sea biodiversity. While González Casarrubios and Sánchez Santos welcome these tools, they also recognize their limitations.
AI systems require high-quality training data in significant volumes. Similarly, eDNA tools are only as reliable as the genetic sequences already deposited in reference repositories and as accurate as the taxonomic identifications attached to those sequences. In both cases, the foundation remains the careful, methodical and often painstaking work of the traditional taxonomist, classifying and naming species one specimen at a time. González Casarrubios concludes, “Regardless of technological advancement, this remains irreplaceable. It is the ‘hard core’ of taxonomy.”
Their research reflects this complementary approach in practice. Beyond describing the Kinorhyncha species through detailed morphological examination, the team has also sequenced several species, including Cristaphyes unangax, which was described from the Aleutian Trench.
“These sequences, along with many others,” they explain, “will be extremely useful for future studies of benthic communities using eDNA methods.” By anchoring molecular data to formally described and named specimens, taxonomists create the reference framework that makes future technological tools more reliable.
Despite its foundational importance, taxonomy has suffered from decades of both declining investment and institutional recognition. Fewer universities offer dedicated training programmes, and funding for descriptive taxonomy competes poorly against fields perceived as more immediately applicable. As a result, the pipeline of new taxonomists has thinned.
González Casarrubios and Sánchez Santos suggest that one underlying reason is not necessarily the lack of public curiosity, but rather a widespread misconception that most species have already been discovered. As they note, “There is a false sense that we already know most of what is out there, leaving only a few ‘eccentrics’ looking where no one else is.”
The reality is starkly different. In the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) of the Pacific Ocean, a region currently being explored for polymetallic nodules under ISA-issued contracts, scientists estimate that between 88 and 92 per cent of species remain undescribed.
This opportunity to build more knowledge is precisely why international initiatives are working to accelerate taxonomic research. One such effort is ISA’s Sustainable Seabed Knowledge Initiative (SSKI), a multi-donor programme that supports biodiversity research and capacity-building in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Central to the initiative is the “One Thousand Reasons” campaign, launched in collaboration with the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) to formally describe at least 1,000 species new to science by 2030.
In continuation of the ISA’s observance of Taxonomist Appreciation Day (19 March), ISA is also celebrating the 24 new deep-sea species recently described from the CCZ. These discoveries were made possible through support from SSKI and the One Thousand Reasons campaign. They expand the growing species checklist for the CCZ, jointly curated by ISA and WoRMS, and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of biodiversity in one of the most intensively studied regions of the deep seabed.
Through years spent studying small groups of organisms, taxonomists develop rare and highly specialized expertise. They build invaluable methods, workflows and data collections. While the specific taxonomic knowledge associated with one group of organisms may not always transfer directly to another, the underlying methodologies often do. Sharing these foundational methods is increasingly important for launching new research collaborations across institutions and regions worldwide.
In the case of González Casarrubios and Sánchez Santos, collaboration with Senckenberg am Meer in Germany proved especially valuable. In addition to deep-sea material collected during numerous oceanographic cruises, the team gained access to the institution’s Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope, which enabled them to observe the remarkable autofluorescent properties of loriciferan cuticles. This important analytical work would not have been possible without this partnership.
Looking ahead, González Casarrubios and Sánchez Santos aim to refine their research methodologies further to increase the number of species they can identify, potentially by deploying multicorers in deep-sea environments. At the same time, they emphasize the need to strengthen recognition and support for taxonomists who dedicate their careers to generating the foundational data on which broader environmental science depends.
Both scientists would like to see taxonomy become an attractive career path for young researchers as a field recognized, supported and adequately resourced at the institutional and governmental levels.
Such discoveries deepen our understanding of evolutionary history and reveal the adaptive potential of life in deep-sea ecosystems. For ISA, this knowledge directly informs its responsibilities under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The ISA is mandated to regulate mineral-related activities in the Area and to adopt measures to prevent harm to the marine environment and to protect the natural resources and biodiversity of the international seabed. None of these responsibilities can be fulfilled without reliable, comprehensive and continuously updated knowledge of what species exist, where they occur and what ecological roles they perform. Taxonomy provides that foundation. Without it, environmental baselines cannot be established, impact assessments lack credibility and monitoring programmes have no reference against which to measure change.
“To protect, we must first know,” say González Casarrubios and Sánchez Santos, “and there is no knowledge more foundational than knowing what awaits us on the ocean floor.”
Their work and that of taxonomists around the world continues to reveal the extraordinary diversity of life hidden in the depths of the ocean, expanding the scientific knowledge on which responsible stewardship of the deep seabed depends.
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 discoveries into open-access databases to support sustainable management of the international seabed area. By accelerating taxonomic research and fostering capacity development, the initiative strengthens the scientific foundations for environmental governance, ensuring that the deep seabed’s biodiversity is documented, verifiable and managed as the common heritage of humankind.
For media inquiries, please contact:
ISA Communications Unit, news@isa.org.jm
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