Scientists have identified 866 new species as part of the Ocean Census, a global mission to protect and accelerate the discovery of marine life. The creatures include everything from a squat lobster to a deep-sea limpet.

New species of shark, sea butterfly, mud dragon, bamboo coral, water bear, octocoral, and shrimp were just some of the marine life findings.

The exhaustive research has been conducted as part of the Nippon Foundation Nekton Ocean Census. Launched in April 2023, the effort is made up over more than 800 scientists from over 400 universities and institutions around the planet. As noted, their objective is to identify as many as 100,000 ocean species.

A project called The Ocean Census has discovered 866 new species in a global creature-finding mission under the sea.

The Ocean Census Project, launched in 2023, is uncovering hundreds of new marine species in a race against time to identify them before they potentially disappear.