Scientists at the University have discovered six new animal species in undersea hot springs 2.8 kilometres deep in the southwest Indian Ocean.
The unique marine life was discovered around hydrothermal vents at a place called Longqi (‘Dragon’s Breath’), 2000 kilometres southeast of Madagascar, and is described in the journal Scientific Reports.
A research team, led by Dr Jon Copley, explored an area the size of a football stadium on the ocean floor, pinpointing the locations of more than a dozen mineral spires known as ‘vent chimneys’.
The team, which includes colleagues at the Natural History Museum in London and Newcastle University, carried out genetic comparisons with other species and populations elsewhere to show that several species at Longqi are not yet recorded from anywhere else in the world’s oceans.
The expedition, which took place in November 2011, provides a record of what lives on the ocean floor in the area, which is licensed for mineral exploration by the International Seabed Authority of the United Nations, before any mining surveys are carried out.
Dr Copley commented:
We can be certain that the new species we’ve found also live elsewhere in the southwest Indian Ocean, as they will have migrated here from other sites, but at the moment no-one really knows where, or how well-connected their populations are with those at Longqi.
Our results highlight the need to explore other hydrothermal vents in the southwest Indian Ocean and investigate the connectivity of their populations, before any impacts from mineral exploration activities and future deep-sea mining can be assessed.
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