In the cold, lightless Pacific Ocean deep, the seabed is scattered with metal-rich rocks coveted by miners -- and huge numbers of strange and rare animals almost entirely unknown to science.

Researchers are scrambling to name thousands of these newly discovered species.

The mining industry is pushing regulators to finalise rules that could open the way for extraction in parts of the vast Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), stretching between Hawaii and Mexico.

Once thought an underwater wasteland, the CCZ is now known to harbour an abundance of wildlife.

They range from tiny worms in the muddy sediment, to floating sponges tethered to the rocks like aquatic balloons and a giant sea cucumber dubbed the "gummy squirrel".

Campaigners say this biodiversity is the true treasure of Earth's largest and least understood environment.

They warn that mining could drive species into extinction before they have even been discovered.

Interest in mining the potato-sized "nodules", which contain metals used in technologies such as smartphone touchscreens and rechargeable batteries, has opened the way for researchers to explore the CCZ.

"We have a far greater........

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