“Dumbo” (Grimpoteuthis sp.), a cirrate or finned octopod, flaps a pair of large ear-like fins to swim, photographed over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is a new species.

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A new species, this blind lobster with bizarre chelipeds belongs to the rare genus Thaumastochelopsis, which was previously known only from four specimens of two species in Australia. The lobster has been given the scientific name Dinochelus ausubeli – derived from the Greek dinos, meaning terrible and fearful, and chela, meaning claw, and ausubeli, honoring Jesse Ausubel, a co-founder of the Census of Marine Life.

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In October 2007, US and Filipino scientists traveled to the Celebes Sea in Southeast Asia, searching for new species living in its deep water. When they discovered this extraordinary worm — which they named the squidworm — they knew they had something completely different. WHOI scientist Larry Madin and National Geographic Society photographer Emory Kristof led the expedition, which was supported by the NOAA Office of Exploration, the National Geographic Society, and the WHOI Ocean Life Institute (OLI).

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A new species of hydromedusae, Bathykorus bouilloni, common below 1000 m. Hundreds of Bathykorus bouilloni were observed by a remotely operated vehicle in the Arctic, showing that a new species can be common in a habitat.

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Cirrate octopod, found at around 800 m in the Gulf of Maine. Stauroteuthis syrtensis is one of the few bioluminescent octopuses. Photophores in its mouth are believed to fool prey by directing them towards the mouth. It is relatively common off the continental slope of the eastern USA, although it occurs across the North Atlantic. This specimen was photographed during a 2004-2005 expedition to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

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The acantharians are one of the four types of large amoebae that occur in marine open waters. Their fragile skeletons are made of a single crystal of strontium sulfate that quickly dissolves in the ocean water after the cell dies. The survey was done as part of the 10-year Census of Marine Life, which involved 2700 scientists around the word, and 9,000 days at sea.

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This bizarre new copepod, Ceratonotus steiningeri, was first discovered 5,400 m deep in the Angola Basin in 2006. Within a year it was also collected in the southeastern Atlantic, as well as some 13,000 km away in the central Pacific Ocean. Scientists are puzzled about how this tiny (0.5mm) animal achieved such widespread distribution as they are about how it avoided detection for so long.

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The leafy Seadragon, Phycodurus eques, is camouflaged to resemble a piece of drifting seaweed.

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This octopus specimen was collected at Lizard Island, Queensland, in an ARMS (Autonomous Reef Monitoring System) at a depth of 10-12 m. The survey was done as part of the 10-year Census of Marine Life, which involved 2700 scientists and 9,000 days at sea.

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South of Easter Island, Census vent explorers discovered a crab so unusual it warranted a whole new family designation, Kiwidae. Beyond adding a new family to the wealth of known biodiversity, its discovery added a new genus, Kiwa, named for the mythological Polynesian goddess of shellfish. Its furry or hairy appearance justified its species name, hirsuta.

A report of the 10-year marine survey was released this week.

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