Indian Ocean Seamounts Yield 149 New Deep-Sea Species

An expedition to volcanic seamounts near Christmas and Cocos islands in the central eastern Indian Ocean uncovered 149 previously unknown species, including a new sea cucumber, a greeneye fish, and a parasitic barnacle. Researchers, led by Tim O’Hara of Museums Victoria, surveyed depths from 94 to 5,431 meters (308 to 17,818 feet) across dozens of seamounts that are 40 to 120 million years old and can span up to 70 kilometers (43 miles). The study, published in *Deep‑Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography*, fills a major data gap in the Indian Ocean’s deep‑sea biodiversity, a region that has been less explored than the Pacific and Atlantic. The findings highlight the ecological richness of these remote underwater mountains and underscore the need for further deep‑sea research.