Novel Observations and Discoveries from the Red Sea

The Red Sea is one of the youngest ocean basins and harbors a great proportion of endemic species. High temperature and salinity make it a unique ecosystem that serves as a model for climate change projections. Despite being highly oligotrophic, it is one of the global hotspots of biodiversity compared to adjacent marine regions like, the Mediterranean Sea. Although studied extensively since the 16th century, new molecular approaches such as metabarcoding, but also the steady improvement of already existing technologies, allows easier re-exploration and novel discoveries. Access to remote areas such as the deep-sea is facilitated by unmanned underwater equipment, while aerial surveys expedite comprehensive observations of marine life in remote coastal areas.



The number of studies increased steadily over different scientific branches utilizing cutting-edge technologies allowing us to explore the ocean and make novel and remarkable discoveries. This further enhances the current knowledge of the biological and ecological characteristics of the Red Sea and how they respond to climate change and increasing human activities, and therefore shed light on future research and decision-making processes for example conservation.



For this Research Topic, we are looking for any novel observations and discoveries of marine fauna in the Red Sea, including, but not limited to, deep-sea waters, mesophotic environments, up to coastal habitats related to coral reefs, macroalgae, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests. This includes observations of previously unknown species or undescribed behavioral observations, symbioses, or new distribution patterns from invertebrates to megafauna such as depth range and area expansions or unusual gatherings of known species.