Every year, thousands of new species are discovered, and among them are always a few really weird, beautiful or funny plants and animals that intrigue scientists and the public alike.

Every year, the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University along with an international committee of taxonomists — scientists who classify and describe new species — choose their 10 favorites. This year's list includes glowing mushrooms, jumping cockroaches, six-foot-long lizards and bacteria that are slowly eating the Titanic.

Images and captions provided by Arizona State University.

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How it made the Top 10: This species was discovered just before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 and its entire known distribution is in the region of the spill. It is also a remarkably hideous -- in a good way -- animal. It is flat like a pancake, spikey, hops on its fins and has huge bulging eyes. Its discovery and precarious existence due to the oil spill was the lead article on CNN's website and a number of other outlets.

Image: Prosanta Chakrabarty/Louisiana State University