A team of marine biologists from Conservation International have described eight new species of tropical reef fish and a new species of coral in the waters surrounding Bali.
“We have carried out a marine survey in 33 sites around Bali island and have identified 952 reef fish, and among them we discovered eight new species,” said the team’s senior adviser, Mark Van Nydeck Erdmann.
The group of scientists was conducting a survey of 33 diving sites around the island and logged 350 hours of diving. The team included what many consider top experts in their respected fields. The group categorized the sites as designated marine areas, which should be protected due to the abundance of biodiversity found in those sites.
“Eight of the 952 species have never been found anywhere else in the world,” Erdmann said.
Included in the new discovery are a species of cardinal fish in the genus Siphamia, a congrid eel in the genus Heteroconger found in Pemuteran 7-10 meters underwater. A new species of combtooth blenny in Gilimanuk and sandperch in Nusa Dua were also described for the first time.
They also were able to discover a new species of goby and dottyback in the genus Grallenia and Manonichthys respectively off the coast of Tulamben. The scientists were also able to identify new deeper water species in Candidasa with a type of cardinal fish in the genus Apogon at 70 meters below the surface and a dottyback at 20 meters.
The team was also able to identify 393 coral species and discovered two new corals previously unknown to science. The new corals represented the genus Euphyllia and Isopora found at a depth of 40 meters around Padangbai and Amed.
“For Euphyllia sp., we are pretty sure that it is a new species,” Erdmann said, adding that Euphyllias are a genus of bubble coral. “Globally, there are eight species of bubble coral. The one we found in Padangbai is different from the eight species. This is the ninth one,” he said.
All the new species have yet to be named and formally entered into taxonomical record.
source thebeatmag
