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Loki is a deep-sea sea cucumber identified as Peniagone sp., recorded at 2,577 metres in Argentina’s Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon. Its horn-like appendages inspired the nickname. The specimen is one striking part of a larger finding: an international workshop identified 57 species new to science and five new genera from South Atlantic deep-sea samples.

What is Loki?

Loki is a holothurian—the scientific group that includes sea cucumbers. Schmidt Ocean Institute reported the specimen as Peniagone sp.; “sp.” indicates that the announcement identifies its genus but does not give a formal species epithet. The prominent horn-like appendages prompted the nickname. Taxonomists Francisco Alonso Solís-Marín and Mariano Martinez are credited with the identification.

The record comes from 2,577 metres in the Mar del Plata Submarine Canyon off Argentina. The canyon itself descends beyond 3,500 metres, so Loki’s observation depth is not the canyon’s maximum depth.

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What did scientists find in the Mar del Plata Canyon?

At a two-week workshop in Buenos Aires, July 13–24, 2026, taxonomists identified 57 species new to science and five new genera from South Atlantic samples. These are workshop identifications; the announcement does not establish that all 57 species have already received formal published descriptions.

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Group Species identified as new to science
Copepods 20
Echinoderms 22
Cnidarians 14
Scaphopod mollusc 1
Total 57

The five new genera span corals, sea cucumbers and crustaceans. Coral classification needs a qualification: two candidate genera and a potential family remain provisional pending genetic analysis.

How were the species identified?

The workshop was led by the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census with Schmidt Ocean Institute. Universidad Maimónides hosted it in Buenos Aires, in collaboration with Argentina’s CONICET and the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales. Specialists used integrated taxonomy—the comparison of evidence from different taxonomic approaches—and recorded discoveries in Ocean Census NOVA, an open-access platform.

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Most of the material came from Schmidt Ocean Institute’s August 2025 expedition, “Underwater Oases of the Mar del Plata Canyon.” Researchers aboard the R/V Falkor (too) collected samples using the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian. The copepod tally illustrates why the scope of examination matters: taxonomists examined 10% of the collected copepod samples, and every specimen in that examined subset was new to science, yielding 20 species and one genus. That result applies to the material examined, not to all copepods collected.

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What happens to the specimens and records?

Physical specimens processed at the workshop, together with historical material from CONICET’s Talud Continental I–III surveys (2012–2013), are to be housed in national collections, including the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia.” The announcement also says the discoveries are logged in Ocean Census NOVA, making the platform an access point for the recorded data.

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Daniel Lauretta, principal investigator at CONICET and the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, said international taxonomy workshops are especially important for groups with few active specialists. He described the workshop as accelerating identification and recognition of new species while building capacity for early-career Argentine taxonomists working on deep-sea fauna.

Why the discovery drew public attention

More than four million people watched livestreams from the August 2025 expedition. Viewers saw deep-sea coral reefs and an orange seastar nicknamed “Patrick Star.” Scientists did not think the seastar was a new species, and it was left undisturbed; it should not be confused with the 57 workshop identifications.

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Schmidt Ocean Institute executive director Jyotika Virmani said the expedition’s live coverage had captured public interest in Argentina’s deep sea. She said the workshop results demonstrated the value of combining technology and international scientific collaboration.

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What comes next?

Lauretta and colleagues plan a Schmidt Ocean Institute expedition to another submarine canyon in February–March 2027, where high endemism is anticipated. It is a planned expedition, not a completed survey, and any further discoveries remain prospective.

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Sources: Schmidt Ocean Institute’s October 1, 2026 announcement; Oceanographic’s October 1, 2026 report; Scubaverse’s October 1, 2026 report.

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