Hundreds of new marine species have been found on Australia's coral reefs, surprising an international team of biologists who announced details of their findings here Thursday.
The three expeditions to Lezard and Heron islands, and Ningaloo Reef, included a first systematic scientific inventory of spectacular soft corals, named octocorals for the eight tentacles around each polyp.
Researchers located some 300 soft coral species, half of which are believed new to science; dozens of small crustacean species; and an unusual amphipod of the Maxillipiidae family. It has a whip-like back leg almost three times the size of its body.
Also found were "new species of tanaid crustaceans, shrimp-like animals, some with claws longer than their bodies; and a beautiful, rare Cassiopeia jellyfish."
Between 40 and 60 percent of the tiny amphipod crustaceans listed, the "insect of the marine world," will be formally described for the first time, researchers said.
"We were all surprised and excited to find such a large variety of marine life never before described 'most notably soft coral, isopods, tanaid crustaceans and worms' and in waters that divers access easily and regularly," said Julian Caley, Principal Research Scientist at AIMS and co-leader of CoML's CReefs project.
"Corals face threats ranging from ocean acidification, pollution, and warming to overfishing and starfish outbreaks," says Dr. Ian Poiner, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), which led the research.
"Only by establishing a baseline of biodiversity and following through with later censuses can people know the impact of those threats and find clues to mitigate them," he argued, so expeditions to the three sites will be repeated for the next three years to follow the species and monitor climate change and other factors.
Other major finds included potentially new polychaetes, marine animals known as "bristle worms," a relative of leeches and earth worms. As many as two-thirds of species found at Lizard Island alone were believed new to science.
Hundreds of New Species Found on Australia Reefs
Michael Perry, PlanetArk 19 Sep 08;
SYDNEY - Australian scientists have discovered hundreds of new coral and marine species on the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef which they say will improve monitoring reef biodiversity and the impact of climate change.
Three expeditions to the reefs over four years to collect the first inventory of soft corals found 300, of which 130 were new species, said a report released on Friday.
Dozens of new marine species were found, such as shrimp-like animals with claws longer than their bodies, along with already known animals like a tongue-eating isopod parasite that eats a fish's tongue and then resides in its mouth.
"We were all surprised and excited to find such a large variety of marine life never before described, most notably soft coral, isopods, tanaid (small, bottom-dwelling) crustaceans and worms, and in waters that divers access easily and regularly," said Julian Caley, research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).
The marine inventory, being carried out globally as part of a 2010 census of reefs, will allow better understanding of reef biodiversity and climate change, said the AIMS report.
"Corals face threats ranging from ocean acidification, pollution, and warming to overfishing and starfish outbreaks," AIMS chief executive Ian Poiner said in a statement.
"Only by establishing a baseline of biodiversity and following through with later censuses can people know the impact of those threats and find clues to mitigate them," said Poiner.
The scientists said other major finds included about 100 new isopods, often called "vultures of the sea" because some feed on dead fish.
Some two thirds of the species found on Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef may be new, along with many polychaetes or "bristle worms", a relative of leeches and earthworms.
"The new Australian expeditions reveal how far we are from knowing how many species live in coral reefs around the globe. Estimates span the huge range from 1 to 9 million," marine scientist Nancy Knowlton from the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, said in a statement.
Expeditions to Lizard and Heron Islands on the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef off northwest Australia will be repeated annually for the next three years to continue the inventory and measure the impact of climate change and other processes.
Scientists have left behind "dollhouse-like" plastic habitats for animals to colonise for collection, which will help standardise reef sampling worldwide, and DNA will be used to speed up the identification of these species in future.
One sampling method the Australian scientists used was to cut the base off dead coral heads, which were presumed to contain no living creature, but revealed more than 150 crustaceans, molluscs and echinoderms.
The scientists said that globally dead coral heads host many thousands of species and are emerging as an important tool for assessing coral reef biodiversity.
The Australian expeditions are part of the global Census of Marine Life (CoML), which after a decade of research will release its first global census in October 2010.
"Hundreds of thousands of forms of life remain to be discovered. Knowledge of this ocean diversity matters on many levels, including possibly human health. One of these creatures may have properties of enormous value to humanity," said CoML chief scientist Ron O'Dor. (Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by Jerry Norton)
Hundreds of New Reef Creatures Found in Australia
James Owen, National Geographic News 18 Sep 08;
Hundreds of new marine creatures, including as many as 150 soft corals, have been discovered in three Australian reefs, scientists report.
Previously unknown shrimps, worms, scavenging crustaceans, and spectacularly colored soft corals were identified at the tropical sites during a study led by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).
Part of the Census of Marine Life, a ten-year initiative to assess global ocean diversity, the expeditions involved systematic sampling of lesser known coral reef animals at Lizard and Heron islands on the Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo Reef on Australia's west coast.
"Between Sand Grains"
The four-year survey recorded about 300 kinds of soft corals, as many as half of which could be new to science. Soft corals lack the hard skeletons of reef-building corals.
A similar proportion of tiny amphipod crustaceans—a group that includes freshwater shrimp—are also set to be described for the first time, the research team said.
In addition, the team found scores of new varieties of shrimps known as tanaids, some armed with claws longer than their bodies.
Tanaids resemble typical marine shrimps, although they are much smaller, said Julian Caley, principal research scientist at AIMS and co-leader of the global Census of Coral Reefs (CReefs) project.
"A lot of them are so small they basically live between sand grains," Caley said.
Seabed Vultures
Other types of newly sampled crustaceans surveyed at the three sites include varieties of pill bug-like isopods called the vultures of the sea, because they scavenge dead fish on the seabed.
There was previously no record for isopods at Ningaloo Reef, Caley said. Yet the team found representatives of two groups that have never been recorded before on coral reefs anywhere.
In total, about a hundred new isopod species could emerge from the study.
"Not only are we picking up new species, we're really massively extending the ranges of some of these organisms," Caley said.
Soft corals were among the biggest, most colorful creatures the team surveyed.
Many such corals were previously unrecorded, despite the fact that divers regularly visit the three reef sites, Caley said.
"People have been swimming past these big, showy animals for years," he added.
Soft corals are more diverse than stony corals and play a key role in reef ecosystems, providing a habitat for other animals to live in, Caley said.
"Astonishing Richness"
Other finds include a potentially new class of marine worm known as bristle worms, relatives of leeches and earthworms.
The team is also analyzing organisms such as seaweeds, urchins, and lace corals.
"Amazingly colorful corals and fishes on reefs have long dazzled divers, but our eyes are just opening to the astonishing richness of other life forms in these habitats," Census of Marine Life chief scientist Ron O'Dor said in a statement.
"Hundreds of thousands of forms of life remain to be discovered," O'Dor said.
"Knowledge of this ocean diversity matters on many levels, including possibly human health. One of these creatures may have properties of enormous value to humanity."
The Unexplored
Coral expert James Crabbe, professor of biochemistry at the University of Bedford in the U.K., said he's excited by the latest discoveries but not surprised.
"There's so much that we just don't know is there," he said.
Corals depend on a symbiotic relationship with temperature-sensitive algae that live inside their tissues and provide both food and color.
While the impact of ocean warming on stony corals is well known, soft corals are also vulnerable to the effects of climate change, Crabbe said.
Given the threats, it's crucial that scientists now determine which species inhabit coral reefs, according to Crabbe.
"Otherwise we just don't know what we could be losing, whether due to climate change, pollution, or other environmental changes."
More photos and stories
- Census of Marine Life website photo gallery and video.
- National Geographicphotos and video clips
- BBC News photos