Deep sea surveys detect over five thousand new species in future mining hotspot

Date:
May 25, 2023
Source:
Cell Press
Summary:
There is a massive, mineral-rich region in the Pacific Ocean --
about twice the size of India -- called the Clarion-Clipperton
Zone (CCZ), which has already been divided up and assigned to
companies for future deep-sea mining. To better understand what
may be at risk once companies start mining, a team of biologists
has built the first 'CCZ checklist' by compiling all the species
records from previous research expeditions to the region. Their
estimates of the species diversity of the CCZ included a total
of 5,578 different species, an estimated 88% - 92% of which are
entirely new to science.


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==========================================================================
FULL STORY ========================================================================== There is a massive, mineral-rich region in the Pacific Ocean -- about
twice the size of India -- called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ),
which has already been divided up and assigned to companies for future
deep-sea mining. To better understand what may be at risk once companies
start mining, a team of biologists has built the first "CCZ checklist"
by compiling all the species records from previous research expeditions
to the region. Their estimates of the species diversity of the CCZ,
publishing in the journalCurrent Biology on May 25, included a total
of 5,578 different species found in the region, an estimated 88%-92%
of which are entirely new to science.

"We share this planet with all this amazing biodiversity, and we have
a responsibility to understand it and protect it," said Muriel Rabone,
a deep-sea ecologist at the Natural History Museum London, UK.

Spanning six million square kilometers from Hawaii to Mexico, the CCZ is
one of the most pristine wilderness regions in the global ocean. To study
it, researchers brave the Pacific Ocean on research cruises that employ sampling techniques ranging from the technical, like remote-controlled
vehicles that traverse the ocean floor, to the simple, like a sturdy
box that lands on the bottom (referred to as "box core sampling").

"It's a big boat, but it feels tiny in the middle of the ocean. You could
see storms rolling in; it's very dramatic," said Rabone. "And it was
amazing -- in every single box core sample, we would see new species."
By parsing through over 100,000 records of creatures found in the CCZ
taken during these deep-sea expeditions, Rabone and her co-authors found
that only six of the new species found in the CCZ -- which include a
sea cucumber, a nematode, and a carnivorous sponge -- have been seen
in other regions. They also found that the most common types of animals
in the CCZ are arthropods (invertebrates with segmented joints), worms, echinoderms (spiny invertebrates like sea urchins), and sponges.

"There's some just remarkable species down there. Some of the sponges
look like classic bath sponges, and some look like vases. They're just beautiful," said Rabone of the CCZ samples. "One of my favorites is the
glass sponges. They have these little spines, and under the microscope,
they look like tiny chandeliers or little sculptures." Going forward,
the team emphasizesthe importance of increasing cohesive, collaborative,
and multidisciplinary research efforts in the CCZ to gain a deeper grasp
of the region's biodiversity. They underline the importance of learning
more about the newly discovered species and how they are connected to the environment around them. Additionally, they urge researchers to delve
into the biogeography of the region to better understand, for example,
why certain species cluster in particular geological regions.

"There are so many wonderful species in the CCZ, and with the possibility
of mining looming, it's doubly important that we know more about these
really understudied habitats," said Rabone.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Plants_&_Animals
# New_Species # Marine_Biology # Fish
o Earth_&_Climate
# Oceanography # Earth_Science # Geography
o Science_&_Society
# Ocean_Policy # Land_Management # Environmental_Policies
* RELATED_TERMS
o Biodiversity o Giant_squid o Colossal_Squid o Deep_sea_fish
o Ocean_current o Atlantic_salmon o Ocean o Sea_turtle

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Cell_Press. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Muriel Rabone, Joris H. Wiethase, Erik Simon-Lledo', Aidan
M. Emery, Dan
O.B. Jones, Thomas G. Dahlgren, Guadalupe Bribiesca-Contreras,
Helena Wiklund, Tammy Horton, Adrian G. Glover. How many
metazoan species live in the world's largest mineral exploration
region? Current Biology, 2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.052 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230525135858.htm

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