Dozens Of New Fish, Coral Species Discovered In Indonesian Seas

[hatrack]

Dozens of exotic new fish and corals have been discovered in a spectacular Indonesian seascape which scientists have hailed as a "species factory" - possibly the richest marine environment in the world. The barely-explored Bird's Head Seascape, off the province of Papua, is "mind-blowing" and "unparalleled" in terms of the number and variety of species that have been logged there, scientists say. Further expeditions are expected to discover dozens more fish and corals.

Among more than 50 creatures discovered in two recent explorations by scientists from Conservation International (CI) are two new epaulette sharks, one of which appears to "walk" on its fins, several types of "flasher' wrasse and many other multicoloured reef fish, new types of mantis shrimp and around 20 new reef-building corals. A total of more than 1,200 species of fish and almost 600 species of coral were recorded, three quarters of the world's total. Although investigated in the 1880s by explorers including the great Victorian naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace - who described it as "one of the most singular and picturesque landscapes I've ever seen'' - the Bird's Head area was largely ignored by modern scientific expeditions until this century.

Dr Mark Erdmann, who led the two expeditions, said: "These reefs are species factories. This region is simply mind-blowing in terms of its diversity. For our surveys to uncover over 50 new species of coral, fish, and mantis shrimp in less than six weeks is unheard of in this day and age. From the perspective of marine - and especially coral reef - bio-diversity, it is unparalleled for an area of this size.''

"Compared to the Great Barrier Reef, the Bird's Head has roughly 50 per cent more reef-building coral species - 600 as opposed to 405 - in an area with approximately one-tenth the size," Dr Erdmann said. "Although the GBR has slightly more recorded species of reef fish, 1,464 compared with 1,233 in the Bird's Head, it is important to note that the Bird's Head has received a fraction of the scientific attention as the GBR, and there are undoubtedly many more discoveries to be made there.''

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http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=60786

[kestrel91316]

1. Wow. Cool. Now let's see how quick we humans can destroy it.

[Dead_Parrot]

2. I'd give it 5 years. :( nt

[Porcupine]

3. Done!! Climate Change. n/t/

/

[hatrack]

4. And let's not forget ocean acidification!

:eyes:

[Dead_Parrot]

5. And sea-floor trawling.

And waste dumping.
And phosphate run-off.

:banghead:

edit: oh, and don't forget those little plastic grains...