AN OXFORD professor has helped discover previously unknown life forms living in a deep sea hotspot near Antarctica.

Researchers led by Prof Alex Rogers uncovered a world of creatures new to science, including species of crabs, starfish, barnacles, sea anemones and an octopus.

The underwater creatures were found living around volcanic vents on the seabed beneath the Southern Ocean near the island of South Georgia.

Water temperatures around the vents can reach 382C (720F).

A camera-equipped remotely-operated vehicle was sent on a series of dives on the East Scotia Ridge, at depths of more than 2,000m (6,500ft).

The expeditions took place in 2009 and 2010.

In April last year marine scientists gathered at Somerville College in Oxford to compile a report on their findings, which have now been described in the online journal Public Library of Science Biology.

Prof Rogers, of Oxford University’s Department of Zoology, said: “The species we found were completely new, so it was tremendously exciting. I was completely blown away by what we found.

“The crabs we discovered around these hydrothermal vents occurred in astonishing density. There were about 600 per square metre and the water was so hot that some of the crabs were actually getting burned — part of their flesh was cooking inside.

“The survey of these vents revealed a hot, dark, lost world in which whole communities of previously unknown marine organisms thrive.

“What we didn’t find is almost as surprising as what we did find — many animals such as vent mussels and vent crabs, found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, simply weren’t there.”

Prof Rogers was a member of an international panel which warned last June that the world could be facing an unprecedented era of marine extinction.

He added: “These findings are yet more evidence of the precious diversity to be found throughout the world’s oceans.

“Everywhere we look, whether it is in the sunlit coral reefs of tropical waters, or these Antarctic vents shrouded in eternal darkness, we find unique eco-systems that we need to understand and protect.”

The discoveries were made as part of a partnership project between Oxford University and the universities of Southampton, Bristol and Newcastle, the British Antarctic Survey and the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton.