Scientists identified 57 marine species new to science and five new genera during a two-week examination of samples from Argentina’s Mar del Plata Canyon. Most specimens were collected during a July–August 2025 expedition, whose livestream attracted more than four million viewers. In July 2026, 20 taxonomists from Latin America and Europe assembled in Buenos Aires to assess the collection. The discoveries included sea cucumbers, feather stars, corals and sea pens.
Much of the expedition’s public appeal centred on an orange sea star resembling Patrick Star from SpongeBob SquarePants. Unlike the newly identified animals, it belonged to a known species and was left undisturbed. Another striking animal, a sea cucumber nicknamed Loki for its horn-like appendages, lives 2,577 metres below the surface. Researchers also identified 20 new copepod species after examining just 10% of the copepod samples; every specimen assessed was new to science, while 90% remain unexamined. These species have been logged as discoveries, but formal scientific description requires a peer-reviewed paper and a museum reference specimen, a process that can take years.
The canyon lies where the warm Brazil current meets the cold, nutrient-rich Malvinas current, supporting abundant marine life. Yet its remoteness offers no complete protection from human pressures: researchers recorded 29 pieces of litter across 10 dives, mostly plastic and some rubber. Fishing gear accounted for much of the waste, leading researchers to suspect activity at sea as its main origin. The new specimens will remain in Argentina’s national collections.
