Announcing the 2024 Ocean Census Award recipients

Around the world there are specimens collecting in labs and museums, which have the potential of furthering our knowledge of marine biodiversity. Due to barriers such as lack of funding, samples may go for years without being described. Some may be lost.

In order to shine a light on the incredible work of taxonomists, and to ensure that more of these specimens are described and species discoveries continue, the Ocean Census is proud to announce the recipients of its 2024 Taxonomy Awards and Science Event Awards.

Taxonomy Awards

The inaugural Ocean Census Taxonomy Awards have been granted to eleven early-, mid- and senior-career researchers from Australia, Germany, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the USA, and the UK. The awardees specialise in a diverse groups of marine organisms, including Octocorals (Anthozoa), Chondrichthyans (sharks), and Holothurians (sea cucumbers).

Meet the Taxonomy Award winners

Franziska S. Bergmeier - Solenogastres

"The funding from the Ocean Census Taxonomy Award will allow me to investigate new species of Solenogasters, a group of strange looking, worm-shaped molluscs.

Solenogastres are found from shallow, knee-deep water down to the bottom of oceanic trenches, and with the right equipment they can be collected quite frequently. However, because it takes a lot of time and special techniques to study and identify them, only a handful of specialists work with these animals. As a result, we still know very little about their diversity, ecology, and also evolution.

This project is a small step in providing insights into the species richness of Solenogastres in parts of the North Atlantic and the North Pacific."

Báslavi Cóndor-Luján - sponges

"My research on "Discovering new sponge species from the Southeast Pacific using an integrative approach" is crucial for advancing our understanding of marine biodiversity in poorly explored regions and habitats, bridging knowledge gaps in marine science. It also provides insights into the distribution of marine fauna, which can be used as a baseline for management strategies.?

This research not only contributes to the conservation of these vital marine organisms but also underscores the importance of protecting the Southeast Pacific's unique ecosystems for future studies."

Niki Davey & Dr Allison Miller - sea cucumbers

"An extensive research survey in the Bounty Trough [2024 Bounty Trough expedition, led by Ocean Census , NIWA and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa ] collected over 70 lots of sea cucumbers, many of which are likely to be new to science. Basic morphological studies have begun but such systematic research is slow going and long-term funding is challenging. The Ocean Census Taxonomy Award allows us to carry out phylogenetic analysis and subsequently produce relationship trees for the Bounty Trough sea cucumbers and other known deep-sea species. These relationship trees will identify the placement of new species within genera and will be used to better determine morphological similarities and differences between sea cucumber species.

Despite their importance, the biodiversity of many sea cucumber groups is unknown as many species still need to be described, especially from deep-sea environments. This is a major problem as sea cucumbers are one of the most abundant organisms on coral reefs and in the deep sea, areas that are dramatically threatened by climate change and mining, respectively. It is imperative that we understand their diversity so that we can better understand their roles within these threatened systems, as well as understand how much biodiversity is being lost from these environments."

Peter Davie - intertidal and shallow subtidal crabs

"There are around 8,000 species of crabs already described, but there are still many more to be catalogued. Modern integrative taxonomic methods are showing us that their diversity has been greatly underestimated. Crabs are one of the most diverse groups of decapod crustaceans, and are of immense importance in the ecology of the oceans. In particular they are keystone species in the health of mangrove systems, as well as other intertidal and coral reef habitats. With global warming and ocean acidification becoming an increasingly urgent problem, the better documentation and description of crab biodiversity will be crucial in understanding and monitoring the threats such ecological changes may pose to coastal systems.

After a long career at the Queensland Museum , this funding will enable me, in my retirement, to purchase a new microscope and imaging system. This will facilitate my efforts to document multiple new species of Indo-West Pacific intertidal and shallow subtidal crabs, and greatly accelerate progress on the description and cataloguing of collections that have been accruing over some years."

Dr. David Ebert - chondrichthyans

"The perception of sharks as large, fearsome, toothy predators belies the reality that sharks and rays are highly diverse and can be informative of the health of the marine environment. In 2014, nearly 25% of Chondrichthyan species were threatened, which increased to c. 33% in 2021, with at least one species now considered extinct and two additional species possibly extinct. Yet despite increasing extinction risk, 20% of all known species of sharks, rays and ghost sharks (collectively referred to as sharks) were described in the past 20 years. However, despite this renaissance in shark taxonomy, support for new species descriptions is lacking. Support from the Ocean Census Taxonomy Award will be crucial to advancing the descriptions of new shark species before they vanish!

Funds from the Ocean Census Taxonomy Award will not only help in new species descriptions, but provide the opportunity for a capacity building program to mentor and train graduate students and post-doctorates from several East and Southern African countries in Chondrichthyan taxonomy. Training local researchers in taxonomy is vitally important given the loss of species diversity in many of these countries."

Lauren Hughes - amphipods

"Ed Ricketts, a scientist immortalised in John Steinbeck’s fictional literature Cannery Row, once published that if Amphipods were the size of large vertebrates everyone would know their names, as their behaviour, diversity and appearance were so endearing. With most amphipod species at less than one centimeter as adults, and many living in depths inaccessible beyond where we can swim, these creatures and their fascinating existence still remain understudied globally. Even to marine biologists, the text books designed to inspire interest in new readers, have remarked that this group, amphipods, is best left to the specialists. Therefore a large part of my role as a taxonomist is bringing about named fauna and field guides to marine scientists and the marine curious, so these amazing amphipods become seen, studied and hopefully celebrated.

The Ocean Census grant is supporting travel to visit significant collections of Amphipod Crustaceans held in Australia at the South Australian and Australian Museums. By reviewing material in these collections, descriptions of 26 species will be formally published as new to science."

Declan Morrissey - bamboo corals

"The Brazilian deep sea harbours some of the least understood benthic fauna, representing a critical gap in our understanding of Atlantic Ocean biodiversity. In collaboration with Brazilian taxonomist Dr. Renata Arantes and other experts, we aim to describe species of bamboo corals, a globally distributed, ecologically significant deep-sea family of octocorals.

This research will facilitate the investigation of species composition across the North and South Atlantic and the Pacific. Since bamboo corals are exclusive to the deep sea, they provide a unique opportunity to study the drivers of biodiversity in environments devoid of shallow-water influences. However, advancing their taxonomy is essential to fully exploit this potential."

Carlos Paz - amphipods

"In August 2009, a scientific expedition was carried out to explore the marine biodiversity of remote coral reef habitats in the Alacranes Reef National Park, southern Gulf of Mexico. The expedition aimed to increase knowledge of geographic records and species richness of various cryptic organisms that are poorly represented in the park management plan, such as small crustaceans.

Despite the dedicated effort to complete the taxonomic revision of this material at that time, many amphipods remained without exhaustive identification work or, at most, these were determined at the Genus category, a phenomenon known in ecology as the Linnean shortfall. The research will contribute to counteract the Linnean shortfall. The funding from the Ocean Census Taxonomy Awards will support the performance of quality work during species identification in the laboratory, through the acquisition of microscopy and computing equipment."

Dr. Sonia J Rowley - gorgonian octocorals

"For over a decade my research has shown that the mesophotic coral ecosystems (30 to >160 m depth) of the Indo-Pacific are thermally dynamic environments yet are dominated by diverse assemblages of gorgonian (sea fan) octocorals. Little is known of these enigmatic corals at such unexplored depths; therefore, this Ocean Census Taxonomy Award is a timely opportunity to validate a subset of new species to science from my >8000 collections.

My research will provide the critical data necessary to describe and publish new species to science from previously inaccessible depths and locations of the Indo-Pacific. I combine advances in closed circuit rebreather technical diving and systematics (e.g., genome skimming) collaborating with leading specialists to ensure the highest accuracy of species validation. As such, this data will undoubtedly accelerate the pace of marine species discovery, be unequivocable for essential biodiversity assessments and subsequent environmental protection, building the capacity for future hypotheses testing, and collaborative frameworks with scientists, local communities and students, and policy makers."

Peter Stahlschmidt - turrids

"I specialize in the taxonomy of turrids, a hyperdiverse group of predatory gastropods.Turrids are the "beetles of the sea": they are the most species-rich group of marine molluscs, with literally thousands of undescribed species. The Ocean Census funding will help me to document and describe around 90 new turrid species.

Turrids are unique in being a species guild that occupy all marine habitats, from the intertidal to hadal trenches, from the poles to the tropics, and are also well known from chemoautotrophic habitats. Therefore, turrids are suitable indicators of global patterns of benthic marine biodiversity, which, however, requires the documentation of their diversity as well as the description of the undescribed species."

Hiroshi Yamasaki - meiofauna

My co-researchers and I will utilize this funding to discover numerous new species from benthic samples collected by the TR/V Toyoshiro Maru (Hiroshima University) over the past 30 years. Although over 200 papers have described new species from these samples, many taxa remain unsorted and are preserved as bulk samples at Hiroshima University—approximately 200 in total. Our project will focus on "overlooked taxa" in these bulk samples, particularly Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, Loricifera, Nematoda, Tardigrada, and certain arthropods (Pycnogonida, Cumacea, and Amphipoda). The funding will be used for extracting organisms from the bulk samples, preparing microscopic slides for observation, and conducting DNA extraction and sequencing for species identification.

Our research aims to uncover new species among these overlooked organisms, preserved in bulk samples that have remained unexamined. These samples not only hold the potential for discovering new species but also provide insights into reconstructing the biodiversity of the time they were collected. Additionally, the bulk samples we will use during the project were at risk of being discarded upon the retirement of the professor responsible for their preservation, making it crucial for marine biology to save and study these invaluable resources through this project.

Science Event Awards

Two Science Event Awards have been allocated to members of the Ocean Census Science Network to attend international conferences and science events. Recipients are also encouraged to present broader findings about the Ocean Census initiative, with the support of pre-prepared templates and resources. Additionally, awardees will share their achievements through professional networks, expanding the impact of their work and promoting the shared mission of species discovery.?

Meet the Science Event Award recipients

Laetitia Gunton

Laetitia received funding to attend the International Taxonomic Workshop Dedicated to Polychaetes from the Aleutian Trench. She says:

"The intensive, week-long workshop aims to discover, identify and document marine worm (polychaete) species from the Aleutian Trench in the north-eastern Pacific. Species diversity and faunal composition from the Aleutian Trench and surrounding region is poorly documented. Prior to 2022, the only biological sample collected from the trench at hadal depths was a single box core sample.

During the workshop detailed taxonomic analysis was performed on the polychaetes from box core samples. Nineteen international experts in polychaete taxonomy were invited. My role was to provide taxonomic expertise for the abundant and diverse polychaete families Ampharetidae, Melinnidae, and Amphinomidae. The workshop will act as a springboard for future polychaete work."

Kurt Bryant Bacharo

"Last April 28 to May 19, 2024, I was privileged to be supported by Ocean Census in joining JAMSTEC KM24-03 deep-sea expedition that surveyed Daito Islands and the Kyushu-Palau Ridge. After the expedition, we managed to collect few anthozoans (black corals, octocorals, and zoantharians). The collected samples are being identified using integrated taxonomic approaches (morphological and molecular methods).

The findings, together with those from the previous JAMSTEC expeditions will be presented in the upcoming 17th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium (DSBS) that will be held on 12-17 January 2025 in Hong Kong.

The Ocean Census Science Event Awards will help me to participate and communicate these results in the upcoming DSBS. Apart from this, I will also be highlighting the support provided by Ocean Census and share among peers their primary goal towards species discovery."

Congratulations to all of the recipients of the 2024 Ocean Census Awards.

"The Taxonomy Awards are an exciting addition to the Ocean Census programme. These awards allow us to shine a light on members of our Ocean Census Science Network and their work, whilst recognising the vital contributions of taxonomists and biodiversity researchers worldwide." said Dr Verity Nye, Ocean Census Science Coordinator.

Read the full press release on our website:

https://oceancensus.org/the-ocean-census-2024-taxonomy-and-event-award-recipients-announced

Find out more about the Ocean Census Awards

https://oceancensus.org/taxonomy-and-science-awards-2024/