Ocean census discovers 600+ new species of fish

[emad]

For all those worried about the threat to their cod and chips supper tonight:

From the UK's BBC News:

More than 600 new species of fish have been discovered by a major ocean census and thousands more may be lurking undetected.
Some 300 scientists from 53 countries are creating a record of all known marine life, in a project reminiscent of an aquatic Doomsday Book. The 10-year Census of Marine Life project will form an open database of raw material available to everyone. So far 15,304 species of fish have been logged. Between 2,000 - 3,000 more are expected to join the list before the census ends in 2010 and many will be previously unknown species. Apart from cataloguing species diversity, distribution and abundance, the census will explain how ocean life changes over time and in the face of human activity.

Extending from pole to pole and covering virtually every ocean, the Census of Marine Life (CoML) is easily the most ambitious and costly project of its kind. Much of the $1bn bill will be footed by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation - a philanthropic non-profit organisation -and individual governments. The census is divided into seven parts. As well as Pacific shorelines and the North Atlantic sea floor, scientists are examining the Gulf of Maine, hydrothermal vents, coastal salmon runs, the world wide habits of large fish and mammals, and animals of the abyss.

The first census report just published outlines how the understanding of these seven topics has advanced since the initiative began three years ago. One 'hot pot' of discovery has been the deep waters off Angola. Researchers exploring the abyssal sediments found an environment with more species per area than any other known aquatic environment on earth. New species of grenadiers found in the western Mediterranean. About 500 of the species collected are thought to be new to science. Experts hope that the research will improve understanding of the relationship between deep-sea species diversity and the richness of food in the water column.

The report also highlights the habits of young salmon during the sea dwelling stage of their lives, challenging conventional ideas about their survival. "Most of the attention on salmon has been in rivers," Mike Vecchione, a scientist at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, told BBC News Online. "But the census has found that most deaths of young salmon occur in the open ocean. This information may be key to maintaining their populations." This is not the first survey into marine life. Numerous catalogues of aquatic creatures are available to the public, but the Census of Marine Life claims to be a league apart. "Most other marine surveys concentrate on commercially important species or charismatic animals like sharks or whales, but we are casting our net far wider," said Jesse Ausubel, Program Director of CoML.

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More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3210544.stm

[Frodo]

1. Do you think they used "statistical sampling"??

Or did the Constitution actually force them to count fish?

[emad]

2. Yep...they made each newcomer fill our a census form

and then a big submarine sat on the seabed for months and months, collecting all the forms and doublechecking the numbers...