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

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.

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.

Nekton Ocean Census, the world's largest collaborative effort to accelerate the discovery of new marine life, announced the discovery of 866 new marine species.