(p. B3) Researchers from the Natural History Museum London analyzed samples of bottom-dwelling animals collected on expeditions to the 2.3 million-square-mile area, known as the Clarion Clipperton Zone, which lies halfway between Hawaii and Mexico. Of the 5,578 species found in the zone, between 88% and 92% are new to science, according to the paper, published Thursday [May 24, 2024] in the journal Current Biology.
. . .
Adrian Glover, an author of the study and merit researcher at the museum, spent several months at sea collecting samples earlier this year.
. . .
“It doesn’t rival coral reefs or rainforests for diversity,” Glover said. “But it is actually higher than soft sediments along the continental shelf, which is just totally bizarre.”
Glover said new marine invertebrates are valuable because they can contain unusual chemical compounds that could potentially be turned into anticancer, antifungal or antiviral drugs.
For the full story, see:
(Note: ellipses, and bracketed date, added.)
(Note: the online version of the story was updated May 25, 2023, and has the title “Thousands of New Species Discovered in Ocean Area Targeted by Deep-Sea Miners.”)
The academic paper summarized above is: