Hundreds of new animal species have been discovered by marine researchers studying Australian reefs as a part of the Census of Marine Life, an international effort to catalogue all life in the oceans. The findings include such curious creatures as tongue-eating isopod parasites living on fish and several new species of tanaid crustaceans, some with claws longer than their bodies. The team also found about 150 species of soft coral thought to be new to science, scores of tiny amphipod crustaceans of which an estimated 40 to 60% will be formally described for the first time, and dozens of small crustaceans likewise believed to be unknown to the scientific community. Researchers actually suspect that one or even several new families of species are to be found among the sampled crustaceans.

The investigated locales are the Lizard and Heron Islands (part of the Great Barrier Reef), plus the Ningaloo Reef off north-western Australia. All locations are considered well known and popular among scuba divers, and the research team was therefore quite surprised when they stumbled upon such a prolific collection of species unknown to science. This shows how little we still know about the species that inhabit our planet; even the ones living in habitats frequented by hundreds or even thousands of people each year.

Map of locations

“People have been working at these places for a long time and still there are literally hundreds and hundreds of new species that no one has ever collected or described,” says Julian Caley, a scientist from the Australian Institute of Marine Science who is helping to lead the research. “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. Compared to what we don’t know, our knowledge of marine life is a proverbial drop in the ocean. Inventorying the vast diversity and abundance of life across all ocean realms challenges both science and the imagination.”

In order to aid future explorations, researchers left several “houses” – formally known as Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) – for marine creatures to colonize on the ocean floor. The houses consist of layered plastic structures and have been designed to appeal to a variety of sea life. Over the next one to three years, the houses will be collected and their tenants investigated.

See pictures of some of the creatures here

The Census of Marine Life (www.coml.org) is a global network of researchers in more than 80 nations engaged in a 10-year initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution, and abundance of marine life in the oceans – past, present, and future. The network will release the first Census of Marine Life in 2010.

Two new species of fish has been scientifically described and named: Glyptothorax filicatus and Glyptothorax strabonis. The genus Glyptothorax is a part of the family Sisoridae in the catfish order Siluriformes, and the most species-rich and widely distributed genus of the entire family.

The new species both hail from Vietnam and were described by Heok Hee Ng[1] and Jörg Freyhof[2]. Glyptothorax species typically live in fast flowing hillstreams or faster-flowing stretches of larger rivers, and the two new species are no exceptions – they have both been described from the rivers draining the Annam Cordilleras in central Vietnam.

Glyptothorax filicatus can be distinguished from its close relatives in Indochina on the diverging pattern of striae that runs along the edges of the central depression in the thoracic adhesive apparatus, while Glyptothorax strabonis is recognized on its very small eyes.

As an adaptation to a life in fast moving waters, members of the Glyptothorax all have an adhesive apparatus on the body, commonly known as a “sucker”. An adhesive apparatus comes in handy when you live in fast flowing waters since it makes it possible to “suck” yourself to a surface, e.g. a rock, and avoid being swept away by the current. Members of the genus Glyptothorax are equipped with an adhesive apparatus on the thorax with grooves parallel or oblique to the longitudinal axis of the body. This separates them from the other genera in the family since those fishes have no thoracic adhesive apparatus at all or a thoracic adhesive apparatus with grooves that runs transverse to the longitudinal axis of body.

A new species of giant clam has been encountered by researchers in the Red Sea and given the name Tridacna costata. The new species is fairly similar to two other well-known species of Red Sea clams and it was therefore first suspect to be a hybrid, but genetic analysis has now deemed it a separate species. Further research carried out in the Red Sea also supports this; there are significant differences in behaviour between the two other species and the newly discovered clam. The two previously known clams spawn during a long period in summer while the new clam spawns during a short period in spring.

Fossil evidence uncovered by researchers has now unveiled something even more interesting; Tridacna costata might be one of the earliest examples of marine overexploitation by humans. Fossil records suggest that the Red Sea Tridacna costata population began do decline rapidly roughly 125,000 years ago. This is the part of our early history when scientists believe modern humans to have first begun to migrate out of Africa. Before this point in history, Tridacna costata accounted for over 80 percent of giant clams in the Red Sea – at least according to current fossil studies. Tridacna costata is a two feet long clam and it is not unreasonable to suspect that it would have been a splendid catch for early humans in search of food. Today, the species is believed to constitute less than one percent of giant clams, but this figure can of course change as the Red Sea becomes even more thoroughly explored.

Tridacna costata is the first new living species of giant clam found in two decades and was accidently discovered by scientists engaged in a Tridacna maxima breeding project. Tridacna maxima, another giant clam, is a much sought after clam in the aquarium trade.

If you want to find out more, the researchers behind the finding have posted their article online in the journal Current Biology on August 28.

A swedish documentary film crew claims to have caught images of a famous swedish sea monster on film. The beast is called “storsjöodjuret” which translates into “the monster of the big lake”. Storsjön is the name of the lake in which it supposedly lives. The monster have been sighted for a very long time and is very bellowed by the people who lives by the lake. It has been used to promote the area and have become a symbol for the area in much the same way Nessie is a symbol for Loch Ness.

The team have capture the picture with submerged cameras placed on a small island and you can follow the cameras online here. The film apparently show a large creature generating body heat and since there are no similar large sea creatures in Sweden except for the wells catfish which normally isn’t found this far north they believe the film shows the lake monster.

The team currently have six cameras but are going to place 24 more cameras next year and a NBC is going to make about the lake monster and their work this fall.

If you asked me the video is far from conclusive and very blurry but it is still better than many other videos like this so I decided to post it here and allow you to make up your own mind about what it depicts

The clip is from Swedish television

Transcript if dialog:
TITLE: Sweden’s Legendary Great Lake Monster (Storsjödjuret) has been caught on Film

ANNOUNCER: .6 constantly monitoring submerged cameras have captured poor images of the Storsjöodjuret, and an American TV company is on its way to depict the hunt for it.

VOICE OVER: This is supposedly the first moving images ever caught of the Great Lake Monster (Storsjödjuret) taken by an underwater camera . The red is representing heat. At least the group trying to disciver the lake monster want to believe that the swedish Loch Ness is captured on film. A special monitoring station have been built in Svenstavik.

SUSANNE KINDSTRÖM (on the team) It is clear that what have been caught on film is alive and contain cells as the equipment shows red (heat) So, is it a sea snake or a part of the lake monster on might wonder. As we’ve just discovered.

INTERVIEWER: It can’t be a piece of wood, or something else..?

SUSANNE KINDSTRÖM: That’s NO piece of wood, that I can see! Not with that movement pattern

VOICE OVER: This is supposed to be the back fin of the lake monster, the camera supposedly indicates heat on this video as well [Shown on video is a BLUE rectangle] Since the project Storsjöodjuret began this spring [2008], the interest for it has been huge – most of all from abroad. The american TV-company NBC is said to be making a film about the lake mosnter this fall. Next summer, they (the lake monster team) are going to increase from 6 to 30 cameras. It is on this small island the cameras are placed today.

INTERVIEWER: But.. do you believe you will ever get Storsjöodjuret on film?

KURT JONSSON (project Storsjöodjuret): I believe so. And I am also convinced that the technology will also be able to….(help) . in 15 or 20 years, you will be able to search any lake. From space or with unmanned vehicles. Technology goes forward..

INTERVIEWER: So this won’t end with it being (just) a piece of wood?

KURT JONSSON: No, I don’t think so. Something will turn up, yes.

An entirely new species of snake has been found in Fiji, The Fiji Times reports. The snake was discovered at Vuna on Taveuni, the third-largest island in Fiji. According to reptile expert Dr. George Zug of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the snake is unlike any other described species of snake in the world. It is a burrowing snake with a length of roughly 25 cm. It seems to be blind; probably an adaptation to its burrowing life style.

According to a survey undertaken by NatureFiji-MareqetiViti in conjunction with the Taveuni Paradise Resort, the snake is fairly well-known among the farmers of southern Taveuni since they encounter it when digging in their gardens and in the forest. (NatureFiji-MareqetiViti is a domestic NGO working with conservation and sustainable management in Fiji.)

Go here to see picture

Two fish species, one frog species and a number of bat flies – all previously unknown to science – are believed to have been found in Guyana during the filming of a British TV series.

While working on the three-part series “Lost Land of the Jaguar” for BBC One, a team of researchers and wildlife film-makers spent six weeks exploring the rainforests of Guyana. “In a short time, we caught hundreds of species, 10% of which may be new to science. It was unreal, unbelievable,” says zoologist Dr George McGavin, one of four presenters of the documentary.

The two newfound fishes are both small creatures; one is a small banded fish belonging to the genus Hemiodus and one is a tiny parasitic “vampire” catfish that fell out of the gills of a bigger catfish. The gill dwelling fish is a member of the genus Vandellia and hence a close relative of the feared Candirú catfishes, famous for their peculiar capability of entering the human urethra. They are commonly referred to as “vampire fish” since they feed on the blood of other animals.

The scientists partaking in the expedition will now have to sit down and research all their findings more thoroughly in order find out if this is actually entirely new species, and if so, describe them scientifically and assign them scientific names. As Dr McGavin says “Catching is the easy bit, the hard bit is going back to the lab and examining the species, comparing them to collections and books – seeing if they are new to science. One hour in the field can equal hundreds of hours in the lab.”

In addition to the possibly newfound species, the documentary includes highlights like footage of the world’s heaviest snake, the Anaconda, the world’s bulkiest eagle, the American Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja), and the enormous Goliath spider (Theraphosa blondi) – also known as the Goliath birdeater. The film-makers have also managed to capture on film the elusive Jaguar from which the series derives its name.

BBC aired all three episodes of “Lost Land of the Jaguar” in August 2008.

You can see a film of the small banded fish here

Guyana, previously known as British Guyana, is a small nation located at the Atlantic side of southern South America. It borders to Suriname, Brazil, and Venezuela. Being slightly smaller than the state of Idaho, Guyana is the third smallest country on the South American mainland. The land can be divided into four main natural regions: a narrow strip of fertile plain along the Atlantic coast where most of the population lives, a hilly white sand belt more inland, a highland region covered in dense rainforest across the middle of the country, and a grassy savannah habitat that can be found to the south as well as in the interior highlands.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Marine biologists being filmed for a BBC TV series about the ocean have managed to find no less than 13 species of fish previously unknown to science. The group also reports having 15 other animals in their possession that they suspect to be new species.

The newfound species have been gathered during deep reef dives in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean during explorations of the so called “twilight zone”. Located at a depth of 60 to 150 meters (500 to 200 feet), the twilight zone forms a transitional region between sunlit shallow waters and the perpetually dark depths of the sea.

One of the findings is of special importance to marine aquarists – a new species of damsel fish. Damsels are very popular among saltwater fish keepers since they are one of the most robust groups of marine fish and generally adapt well to a life in aquaria. The new damsel species was caught 120 meters down off Palau and sports a bright blue colouration.

The bright blue damsel was actually spotted over a decade ago by Dr Richard Pyle, and it has been occasionally seen since then by other researchers as well, but it was during the BBC filming that the species could be captured and brought up to the surface for scientific examination for the very first time. The fish has now been scientifically described and named by Dr Pyle from the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Recreational scuba divers with ordinary scuba gear are not advised to venture any deeper than 40 meters (130 feet), so the researchers of this expedition had to use special closed-circuit rebreathers to access the twilight zone. Even with rebreathers, you quickly run out of air at such a great depth and there is no time for any meticulous investigation of the environment.

The expedition will be portrayed in the BBC series “Pacific Abyss” and the new species of damsel have been appropriately named Chromis abyssus.

Pacific Abyss starts its three-part run on Sunday, 17 August, on BBC One, at 2000 BST.

Video from the dives

Src: bbc.co.uk

Genetic and morphological analysis has now confirmed the existence of a second species of manta ray, and possibly a third one as well. Up until know, the scientific community only knew about one single species of manta ray and all encountered manta rays were viewed as variants within the same species. PhD marine biologist Andrea Marshall did however suspect that there might be more than one species of manta ray luring in the ocean and in 2003 she to a small coastal village located in southern Mozambique to be able to study the manta rays found off the African coast. During the last five years, she has been carrying out a manta ray study sponsored by the Save Our Seas Foundation and discovered a new species as well as collected invaluable information about the reproductive habits of the manta rays.

The two manta rays species have overlapping geographical ranges, but they have significantly different life styles. One species is migratory while the other one – the smaller and more commonly known species – is resident to particular costal regions where it stays year round. There are also noticeable differences in reproductive biology, skin texture and colouration.

The small, stationary species is commonly encountered by divers and researchers at coral reefs, while the larger, migratory species is much more elusive.

The pectoral fins of a manta ray can span almost 8 meters in width and the weight of this baffling shark relative can exceed 2000 kg. Unlike the stingray, the manta ray is not equipped with a functioning stinging barb, but one of the manta ray species actually has a non-functioning type of sting on its tail.

According to the Save Our Seas Foundation, Andrea Marshall’s new finding is the marine equivalent of discovering an unknown species of elephant.

You can find out more by visiting the Save Our Seas Foundation (http://www.saveourseas.com/manta-rays-a-new-species) and the Mozambique Manta Ray project page (http://www.saveourseas.com/manta-rays-mozambique).

A newly investigated 290 million year old fossil may be an evolutionary missing link in the amphibian family tree. The fossil was collected in Texas by a palaeontologist with the Smithsonian Institution in the mid-1990s. The fossil eventually ended up at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., where it was re-discovered and investigated in 2004.

The new analysis of the fossil has been carried out by Jason Anderson, a comparative biologist at the University of Calgary, Canada. According to Anderson, the fossil has an overall amphibian look but with interesting archaic features. The animal resembles a salamander, but the tail is stubby and the ears are similar to the ears of a frog.

“So it’s kind of a frogamander, if you will,” Anderson sais to National Geographic News.

The fossilized species has been given the name Gerobatrachus hottoni. Until recently, scientists believed that frogs, salamanders and the wormlike caecilians all hailed from a common ancestor. Gerobatrachus hottoni suggests that frogs and salamanders are much more closely related to each other than to the caecilians.

Read more in Anne Casselman’s article for National Geographic News.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080521-frog-fossil.html

The study of the fossil appears in this week’s (May 21^st 2008) issue of the journal Nature.

The Bolivian Amazon (picture by: Thomas van den Berk)

The Bolivian River Dolphin has finally been graced with the acknowledgement that it is, in fact, a separate species from its close relative, the Amazon River Dolphin. Lighter in color, smaller, and having more teeth, are only a few of the things that separate this newly named species apart from the others. It is able to move its head side to side; something other dolphins can not do,  to manuever through flooded forests during heavy rains and flooding.

Unfortunately the Bolivian River Dolphin, like all dolphins, is facing a questionable future do to pollution, fishing, industrialization, damming, and deforestation. 1,500 dolphins are caught and killed each year by fishermen to be used as bait. Hopefully, unlike the newly extinct Yangtze River dolphin in China, the Bolivian River Dolphin will be able to saved by awareness and conservation efforts.

for a complete article on the Bolivian River Dolphins visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/29/eadolph129.xml