Australia's Coral Sea has given up some of its best-kept secrets. A CSIRO-led voyage aboard research vessel RV Investigator has identified more than 110 fish and invertebrate species that are new to science, with taxonomists warning the final tally could push past 200 as cryptic species are untangled.
The announcement, made public by CSIRO on 1 April 2026, caps a multi-month run of taxonomic workshops that followed the Coral Sea Frontiers expedition. Scientists used deep-towed camera systems and trawl gear between 200 and 3,000 metres inside the Coral Sea Marine Park — a largely unexplored area spanning nearly one million square kilometres off Queensland's outer reefs.
"During the voyage it was incredible to observe plenty of unique, deep-sea creatures in locations from seamounts and atolls to unexplored deep reefs," said Dr Will White, CSIRO voyage chief scientist. "These incredible discoveries, made possible by the impressive deep-water survey capabilities of RV Investigator, reveal the extraordinary life in our oceans and are crucial for protecting Australia's marine biodiversity."
Among the new fish White has already named are two undescribed rays in the genera Dipturus and Urolophus, a deepwater catshark in the genus Apristurus and a chimaera in the genus Chimaera. The voyage also captured rare footage of a sand tiger shark, Odontaspis ferox — a deepwater relative of the grey nurse. Brittlestars, crabs, sea anemones and sponges round out the haul.
The new species are being catalogued through the Ocean Census Biodiversity Data Platform, a global open-access register of newly described marine life run with the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census.
"To ensure high-quality data is visible to the global community in real-time, the taxonomists at the workshops input the species data directly into the Ocean Census Biodiversity Data Platform," said Dr Michelle Taylor, the foundation's head of science.
"Voyages like the Coral Sea Frontiers expedition are essential for uncovering biodiversity in our marine parks," said Dr Candice Untiedt, CSIRO marine ecologist. "Turning them into knowledge depends on taxonomic expertise."
That expertise was on show in a pair of workshops — described by participants as likely the largest marine-animal taxonomy gatherings ever held in Australia — where DNA sequencing was paired with traditional morphological analysis. Dr Claire Rowe, collection manager at the Australian Museum, said the combination was particularly important for species that resist identification under the microscope alone.
"Voyages such as the recent one to the Coral Sea allow us to take tissue samples from the jellyfish before they are fixed in formalin, and it is exciting to get samples from these deep-sea specimens," Rowe said. "A lot of the species collected have either not been sequenced before, or not been sequenced from Australian waters."
The specimens are now lodged across the CSIRO Australian National Fish Collection and state museums. Parks Australia, which co-manages the marine park, called the voyage a test case for science-led management.
"This work demonstrates the power of collaboration between science and marine park management," said Shaun Barclay of Parks Australia's Marine and Islands Branch.
RV Investigator's Marine National Facility director Toni Moate described the expedition as "a wonderful collaboration between national and international researchers and research agencies." The ship has now helped describe 179 species new to science in its first 12 years.
For anglers, the headline is simple: the Coral Sea remains one of the least-understood high-biodiversity zones in Australian waters, and every voyage out there is still turning up animals nobody has ever named.
