The scientists were carrying out research for the Benthic Crozet project which is a major exploration of the waters and ocean dwellers off the Crozet Islands. Dr King from the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab was among those responsible for examining any marine creatures caught. She said: "I could only identify the six so far – not down to species level. So we packed them into preservative and took them home." The Research Fellow then worked closely with Dr Peter Møller and Professor Jørgen Nielsen of the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, and Professor Guy Duhamel of the Paris Natural History Museum before the three confirmed the six were indeed new to science.