<p><strong>Covered in neat rows of tiny hairs, this snail from a submarine <a id="ady5" title="volcano" href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/volcano-profile/">volcano</a> deep off <a id="h5ww" title="Japan" href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/japan-guide/">Japan</a> is the only known specimen of its species. <br></strong></p><p><strong>Shown in an undated picture, the animal—as yet unnamed—is among the many likely new species announced upon the conclusion of the <a id="jbmw" title="Census of Marine Life" href="http://www.coml.org/">Census of Marine Life</a>. <br></strong></p><p>(See <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/101004-census-of-marine-life-new-species-oceans-science/">"Six-hundred-year-Old Worms Among Surprises of Ten-year Sea Survey."</a>)</p><p>Prior to its final report, released Monday, the decade-long, globe-spanning inventory of ocean life, had already announced the discovery of roughly 6,000 new species.</p><p>The new marine snail, of the <em>Alvinoconcha</em> genus, was collected from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent, a realm of extreme pressure, high temperatures, and eternal darkness. At least part of the animal's diet is obtained via symbiotic microbes living inside its gills.</p><p>(<a id="sqfn" title="See another swimming snail found during the Census of Marine Life." href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/photogalleries/marine-census-deep-sea/">See another swimming snail found during Census of Marine Life expeditions.</a>)</p><p><em> —Helen Scales</em></p>