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Unexpected marine biodiversity discovered

HAMBURG, Germany, May 21 (UPI) --

German researchers have reported finding 585 new species of crustaceans in the depths of the Southern Ocean.

The discovery came during three sampling expeditions set up as part of the Antarctic benthic deep-sea biodiversity project. The discovery of unexpected levels of biodiversity challenge assumptions that deep sea diversity is depressed in that area.

Angelika Brandt and colleagues from the University of Hamburg collected biological specimens and environmental data from different regions between 2,500 and 21,000 feet under the surface of the Weddell Sea and adjacent areas.

The Weddell Sea is an important source of deep water for the rest of the ocean and provides a possible route for species to enter the deep water. In line with that fact, the team reported finding deep-sea creatures also found in adjacent shelf communities and other oceans.

They identified 674 species of isopod -- a diverse order of crustaceans -- of which more than 80 percent were new to science.

The discovery is reported in the current issue of the journal Nature.

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