Hundreds of New Marine Species Discovered in Australia

Marine biologists have discovered hundreds of new and rare species while exploring the waters around two remote islands and a reef off the Australian coast.

Scientists conducted in-depth surveys of marine life around the Heron and Lizard islands on the Great Barrier Reef off the country's northeastern coast, and in the waters around the 170-mile-long Ningaloo reef off the western coast.

Among their findings were an estimated 130 new species of soft corals, several undescribed shrimp-like species - some with claws larger than their bodies - and dozens of tiny crustaceans. They also collected around 100 small organisms called isopods that are believed to be new to science. Some isopods are parasites and burrow into fishes' mouths and nibble their tongues away.

Heron and Lizard islands are well-established diving sites for tourists, and despite both having well-established scientific research stations, conservationists know very little about the diversity of organisms that live in the surrounding waters. Ningaloo also draws divers, many of whom come to spot whale sharks that feed in the region.

"Our main goal is to understand what lives on coral reefs. They are the most biodiverse habitats in the oceans, but we still have a very poor idea of what lives on them," said Julian Caley, head of conservation and biodiversity at the Australian Institute of Marine Science and co-leader of the Census of Marine Life's reef project.

"This work will provide us with a baseline of what is out there. Reefs are under threat from a whole variety of impacts, from global warming to pollution and ocean acidification, and if we don't know what's out there now, we won't know whether or not our policies on managing reefs are succeeding in protecting them," he added.

Divers surveyed waters up to 30m deep during the expeditions, using clear plastic traps to collect organisms. At some sites, divers put bags over dead corals and chiseled them free of the seabed to capture all of the organisms living inside. A single dead coral head can contain more than 150 individual crustaceans and molluscs. Teams from museums and herbaria accompanied the biologists to help identify any new species.

"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, in waters that divers access easily and regularly," said Caley.

Isopods are a richly diverse group of crustaceans, which use antennae to taste and smell food, while tanaid crustaceans are larger and often look similar to shrimps. Soft corals do not build reefs like hard corals do, but can still cover a quarter of the seabed at some sites, creating an important habitat for other species.

The expeditions, which are part of a four-year effort to build up a detailed picture of marine life around the sites, will feed into a global census that will release its first report in 2010.