Marine-life census finds 6,000 new species
Marine scientists from more than 80 countries, including Canada, have completed the first-ever international census of marine life, documenting the diversity and abundance of life in Earth's oceans.
Vigtorniella sp. (polychaete worm) found at a whale fall at Sagami Bay, Japan at a depth of 925 metres. Whale fall is the term used for a whale carcass that has fallen to the ocean floor.
A Venus flytrap anemone, Actinoscyphia sp., was photographed in the Gulf of Mexico.
The tube anemone, or tube dwelling anemone, lives in a mucous tube on the muddy bottoms of coastal waters, estuaries, and soft sea beds. These attractive anemones are found in tropical and subtropical waters throughout the world.
In October 2007, U. S. and Filipino scientists traveled to the Celebes Sea in Southeast Asia, searching for new species living in its deep water. When they discovered this extraordinary worm — which they named “Squidworm” — they knew they had something completely different.Picasa 2.0
Cirrate octopod, found at around 800m in the Gulf of Maine. Stauroteuthis syrtensis is one of the few bioluminescent octopuses. Photophores in its mouth are believed to fool prey by directing them towards the mouth.David Shale
An undescribed zoanthid species, Neozoanthus sp., collected at Sykes Reef, Heron Island in 2009.
Metapseudes sp., a potentially new species that was found in abundance among the coral rubble at Ningaloo, Western Australia.
South of Easter Island, Census vent explorers discovered a crab so unusual it warranted a whole new family designation, Kiwidae. Beyond adding a new family to the wealth of known biodiversity, its discovery added a new genus, Kiwa, named for the mythological Polynesian goddess of shellfish. Its furry or hairy appearance justified its species name, hirsuta.
This bizarre new copepod, Ceratonotus steiningeri, was first discovered 5,400 metres deep in the Angola Basin in 2006. Within a year it was also collected in the southeastern Atlantic, as well as some 13,000 kilometres away in the central Pacific Ocean.
In Alaska's Aleutian Islands, nearshore researchers have discovered new species even in shallow water, such as this kelp, Aureophycus aleuticus.