Scientists discover 52 new marine species near Indonesia

A Beautiful Find

Eight new species of shrimp, 20 new species of coral, and 24 new species of fish, including two types of sharks, have been discovered off the coast of Indonesia. And these aren't your grandmother's marine species: Male wrasse fish get sexy for their harems by flashing bright yellow, blue, and purple; bottom-dwelling epaulette sharks mostly get around by "walking" on their fins; and the shrimp resemble praying mantises. Mark Erdmann of Conservation International calls the 6,950-square-mile Bird's Head Seascape "the epicenter of marine biodiversity on the planet"; researchers have counted 1,200 species of fish and 600 species of coral there, a greater concentration of species than is found at the Great Barrier Reef. Of course, the ecosystem is in danger, threatened by commercial fishing vessels, local fisherfolk who use dynamite and cyanide, and erosion from mining and logging. Only 11 percent of the area is currently protected, but Indonesia's Fisheries Ministry is hoping to increase the number of regional marine parks.

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Alister Doyle, 18 Sep 2006

straight to the source: BBC News, Richard Black, 18 Sep 2006

straight to the source: MSNBC, 18 Sep 2006

straight to the source: The Washington Post, Associated Press, Michael Casey, 18 Sep 2006

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Comments: (2 comments)

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new sharks!

The polar bear story fits into a pattern that we are becoming familiar with, regarding the melting of Arctic ice.

But the marine biodiversity story, from waters off western New Guinea, is really exciting.

The new "walking shark," which pushes along the ocean floor on its pectoral fins, first the left, next the right, is a truly beautiful beast.

But no, it is quite undesirable, and would be irresponsible, for anyone to get a salt-water aquarium in order to preserve any of these marvelous critters as their personal captives.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 3:38 PM on 18 Sep 2006

Yes, but..

Caniscandida,

The waters off the Bird's Head Peninsula of West Papua and the Raja Empat islands are truly exciting.

And you're right, the so-called 'walking shark' depicted in the photograph accompanying the BBC and Washington Post stories is a truly beautiful creature as well.

But the shark in the photo is not the new species. Hemiscyllium freycineti, AKA the Raja Epaulette - the ID is helpfully placed right in the photo caption - was actually first discovered in 1824. It's endemic in West Papua region, and it is endangered - it's on the IUCN Red List. See here .

(You know how some journalists are - "Hey, isn't a photo of one epaulette shark just as good as another." And in the greater scheme of things, of course, this may be quite correct.)

The box drawn on the map provided with the BBC story actually shows just the Raja Empat(which means Four Kings) area. R4 consists of four large islands (and many smaller ones) west of the Birdshead Peninsula of West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya). If I'm not mistaken, however, the new epaulette shark and the other new discoveries that are the main subject of this story were actually discovered during a recent CI Rapid Environmental Assessment mission to the Teluk Cendrawasih area, which is northeast of the Birds Head Peninsula.

The MSNBC item, on the other hand, does has a video of the unnamed new shark. It looks a lot like a common H. ocellatum, but its "walking" behavior (shown on the clip) is very odd indeed.

The MSNBC item also includes an excellent, accurate map.

These waters off West Papua, along with a few other locations in East Indonesia, have become the most interesting spots on the planet for me. I'm headed back over October-November.

From a conservationist point of view, it's not just the fact that this area is the global epicentre of marine biodiversity (actually we're talking about the larger Indo-Pacific Coral Triangle as a whole here, not just the waters of West Papua), but the fact that this area may be the the most important evolutionary centre of origin for marine genera and species - where new forms of marine life first step onto the evolutionary stage to radiate outward through oceans all over the world.

Robert Delfs

by Robert Delfs at 8:36 PM on 18 Sep 2006

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